Indigenous issues

Reporter’s new book examines seven deaths of Indigenous youth in Thunder Bay

By AMANDA POPE Staff reporter Toronto Star reporter Tanya Talaga went to Thunder Bay, Ont. to write about why Indigenous people don’t vote in federal elections, but came back committed to investigating the deaths of seven Indigenous high school students and the education system that failed them. Talaga, a two-time recipient of the Project of the Year National Newspaper Award,…

Duncan McCue to discuss what journalists need to know about reporting on Indigenous communities

Duncan McCue works with Ryerson J-School on curriculum for covering indigenous issues

BY JASMINE BALA Staff Reporter Reporters working in Canadian newsrooms should receive diversity training just like police officers and health workers do says Duncan McCue, the newly appointed Rogers Visiting Journalist at the Ryerson School of Journalism (RSJ). McCue said the training is necessary because journalists who don’t understand indigenous cultures can cause harm while reporting on these communities. “The…

Better understanding of indigenous issues needed in Canadian newsrooms says CBC’s Jody Porter

By LEAH HANSEN Special to the RJRC Students crowded into the Venn last week for CBC journalist Jody Porter’s talk on how indigenous issues are covered in Canadian media. “Stories about indigenous people in this country rarely satisfy editors unless the main character is dead, drunk or drumming,” said Porter, who is based in Thunder Bay. “I’m not sure the newsrooms in this…