Covering aboriginal peoples

    Aboriginal People’s Television Network asked in an episode of its program Contact, “Is the mainstream media part of the problem?”

   
Said the online intro: “Kelly Morrisseau was a pregnant young mother
who was murdered. She was found dead and naked in an Ottawa-area
parking lot, stabbed 12 times and left to die. She was also an
Aboriginal woman. In its coverage of the crime, one local newspaper’s
headline was: “Gatineau Park slaying victim was troubled mother of
three.” So it was her fault she was murdered?

    “In Edmonton,
a front page story about whether the city’s anti begging by-law was
published beside a large picture of an Aboriginal man panhandling. The
unstated message was clear. Was it intended? Did the coverage have to
be like this? Is it fair? Is it reasonable? Or does it reveal that
Canada’s news media has a bias – conscious or not — against Aboriginal
peoples? Can there be better coverage of Aboriginal peoples in
mainstream media? If so, what needs to change?”

    The program is online here in a video archive — if you have the software to view it.