ABORIGINAL PRESENCE IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: ISSUES AND JOURNALISTS A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for a Special Case Master of Arts Degree in Indigenous Studies University of Regina by Alethea A. Foster, B.J. Regina, Saskatchewan April, 2008 © 2008: A. A. 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The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada UNIVERSITY OF REGINA FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH SUPERVISORY AND EXAMINING COMMITTEE Alethea A. Foster, candidate for the degree of Special Case Master of Arts degree in Indigenous Studies, has presented a thesis titled, Aboriginal Presence in the Mainstream Media: Issues and Journalists, in an oral examination held on January 25, 2008. The following committee members have found the thesis acceptable in form and content, and that the candidate demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the subject material. External Examiner: Dr. Lorna F. Roth, Concordia University Co-Supervisor: Dr. David R. Miller, Department of Indigenous Studies Co-Supervisor: Professor Shannon Avison, Department of Indigenous Studies Committee Member: Dr. Margaret Wigmore, Department of English Chair of Defense: Dr. Linda Goulet, Department of Indigenous Education ABSTRACT The Aboriginal population is the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population. According to the 2001 census, there are 976,305 Aboriginal people in Canada. Most of those, almost 609,000, are First Nations, 292,305 are Metis and the rest are Inuit. In Saskatchewan, Aboriginal people made up 13.52 percent of the population in 2001 and if current trends continue it is anticipated that the Aboriginal population will grow to 33 percent by 2045. However, it is generally accepted that First Nations people and issues are not well understood by the general public. Since many non-First Nations people have little day to day contact with First Nations people, most of what they do know about Aboriginal issues and people comes through the mainstream media. Therefore, if people have misunderstandings the media is at the very least partially to blame. We live in a society that is strongly influenced by an environment in which the mass media plays a crucial and often decisive role in the enhancement or the destruction of the images of "other" peoples. This thesis critically examines the power of the media, how the mainstream media covers minority issues with a particular focus on First Nation issues; what role First Nations journalists play in that coverage and to what degree the coverage is negotiated or dictated. While a small but growing body of literature exists regarding the mainstream media and Aboriginal issues, most of the discourse in this area comes together with an examination of other minorities. In particular the thesis will examine the coverage of Aboriginal issues, focusing on the observations of six Aboriginal journalists in Saskatchewan. This approach i provides a voice to perceptions that thus far have been limited and sparse and intersects those perceptions with the academic discourse surrounding the issue. The views of the journalists will be used to buttress existing literature on mass media and minorities issues. These journalists agree on many things: that the coverage of Aboriginal issues in the mainstream media is lacking and that it is improving, they believe that more Aboriginal journalists and gatekeepers are needed in the media, and they believe that other reporters and gatekeepers require more education regarding Aboriginal issues in order to improve coverage. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to acknowledge and extend my appreciation to Dr. David R. Miller and Professor Shannon Avison of the First Nations University of Canada for their support, advice and patience in the production of this thesis. I would also like to extend my thanks and appreciation to Dr. Margaret Wigmore of the University of Regina's English Department for her help in clarifying and finalizing the material. I thank the journalists who agreed to be interviewed for this thesis; Betty Ann Adam, Nelson Bird, Mervin Brass, Doug Cuthand, Merelda Fiddler and Michelle Hugh who shared their thoughts and hopes with me. Without their candid and open sharing of information, I could not have completed this project and their input was invaluable in keeping me from giving up. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the financial assistance of an unsolicited University of Regina Academic Scholarship and appointments such as a teaching assistant at the First Nations University of Canada which enabled me to complete my studies. I would also like to acknowledge the Government of Saskatchewan, my employer, for its support of my pursuit of further higher learning. ABORIGINAL PRESENCE IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: ISSUES AND JOURNALISTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS vii Chapter 1 POWER AND IMPACT OF THE MEDIA: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Research Problem 6 1.2 Research Question 7 1.3 Significance of the Contribution 7 1.4 Review of the Literature 8 1.5 Methodological Approach 16 Chapter 2 THEORETICAL APPROACHES 19 2.1 Hegemony and Cultural Studies 20 2.2 Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies 25 Chapter 3 THROUGH THE LENS OF THE ABORIGINAL JOURNALIST 29 3.1 Betty Ann Adam 29 3.2 Nelson Bird 31 3.3 Mervin Brass 33 3.4 Doug Cuthand 36 3.5 Merelda Fiddler 38 3.6 Michelle Hugh 40 3.7 Reflecting on the Journalists 42 Chapter 4 MEDIA IN CANADA 44 4.1 Legislation 45 4.2 Media Ownership 47 4.3 Multiculturalism and Diversity 51 Chapter 5 WHAT MAKES NEWS 54 5.1 Selecting News 60 5.2 Audience 62 Chapter 6 DELIVERING THE NEWS 66 6.1 Gatekeepers 68 6.2 Hiring Practices 70 iv Chapter 7 MINORITY COVERAGE IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA 79 7.1 Stereotyping 83 7.2 Whitecentrism 88 7.3 Racism 91 7.4 Crime 93 7.5 Case Studies 96 Chapter 8 CONTENT ANALYSIS 102 8.1 Residential Schools Feature 103 8.2 Regina Leader-Post - A Content Analysis 106 8.3 The Ramsay Coverage 122 Chapter 9 CONCLUSION 125 BIBLIOGRAPHY 131 APPENDIX A: QUESTIONS SUBMITTED TO ETHICS BOARD 150 APPENDIX B: ETHICS BOARD APPROVAL 152 APPENDIX C: CONTENT ANALYSIS GUIDELINES 153 V LIST OF TABLES Table 1 - Focus of Story 109 Table 2 - Tone of Story 109 vi DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYNS ASNE American Society of Newspaper Editors. Blog Blog is the short form of referring to Web logs. Blogs are Web pages containing the personal views and links expressing the opinions and observations of a particular individual. Blogs can also include arms of political campaigns, media programs and corporations. Many web logs allow visitors to leave comments that can lead to the development of a community of readers centered on a topic. Some bloggers are journalists or consider themselves journalists. First Nation First Nation is a respectful alternative to the term Indian that is the preferred choice of representatives of Indian people. It is also used as a term to substitute for the term Band in referring to Aboriginal groups formally recognized by the federal government under the Indian Act of 1876. FSIN Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. Gatekeeper Media personnel such as editors and producers who decide what news stories are assigned, which are omitted and where the stories are placed. They have the power to keep the gate open and allow the news through or close the gate and keep the news away from the public. INCA Indian Communication Arts program. This is a journalism program offered at the First Nations University of Canada in Regina. Mass Media This thesis uses the mass media and mainstream media interchangeably to refer to newspapers, magazines, television and radio. The internet does not form a major study area of this paper. In addition, while media is the plural of the word medium, according to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary (1998), the use of the word with a singular verb is now fairly well established.