THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION OF CANADA … CALLS ON ‘CANADIAN JOURNALISM PROGRAMS AND MEDIA SCHOOLS to require education for all students on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations.’
Most institutions are slow to include such education, and if so, they are not mandatory.
As Joyce Hunter, a contributor to this guide, says, “What people don’t learn from their education system, they look to the media to fill their information gap. What the public fails to realize is the journalists covering Indigenous issues went to the same schools they did, and received the same education they did on these issues.”
This Style Guide for Reporting on Indigenous People is a general guide and serves as a quick reference. It does not make up for the lack of education in Indigenous history and perspectives. Journalists should take it upon themselves to properly research the communities in the region they cover.
Media plays a key role in educating the public on Indigenous communities. It could start with describing the communities in a fair, accurate and respectful way.
(Lenny Carpenter, “Why Change Media Style Guides on Covering Indigenous People?” in Journalists for Human Rights, Style Guide for Reporting on Indigenous People)
Download the Style Guide here.
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We acknowledge that the land on which we work is the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.