A look at the changing indigenous media landscape in Canada
In 2015, journalist Maureen Googoo set out to create the first website dedicated to indigenous news in Atlantic Canada. Ku’ku’kwes News is an independent website that covers four of the 10 Canadian provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
Canada is ranked 22 out of 180 countries in press freedoms by Reporters Without Borders. According to this source, press freedoms in Canada are declining. Although the constitution guarantees freedom of the press, the government uses national security as a reason to heavily watch the press.
Mainstream media in Canada has not always given indigenous stories the coverage they deserve. A study done by Journalists for Human Rights found that between 2010 and 2013, less than 1 percent of news stories in Ontario were about indigenous issues. According to the CIA World Factbook, 4.2 percent of Canadians identified as “North American Indian.” The Journalists for Human Rights found that around 30 percent of the indigenous stories had a negative tone. What this means is that indigenous people were underrepresented in the news and when they were represented, it was negative.
Steve Bonspiel is the editor of the Kahnawake Mohawk territory newspaper The Eastern Door in Quebec.
“Being part of indigenous media is telling our own stories from our own perspective. You do have to write negatively about your community and not shy away from hard news,” he said.
Bonspiel said he pitches stories to mainstream outlets every day to raise awareness about what is happening in their community. He said that in recent years, he has seen improvement in the way national news will cover their stories. Recently, their reserve’s spring clean up was covered on global television.
Maureen Googoo has worked as a journalist for 30 years. She received a post-graduate degree in journalism from Ryerson University and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. She has worked for Micmac News, CBC Radio, The Chronicle-Herald newspaper and The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN).
In an interview with Jack Julian of CBC, Googoo said, “No matter where I worked, I always came across somebody else who was setting the news agenda, telling me that stories from my community weren’t that interesting. And that was always very frustrating for me.”
Ku’ku’kwes is the first news organization of its kind in Atlantic Canada. The goal was to create a space for indigenous people about indigenous people and the issues that affect their community.
When you scroll through the news stories on Ku’ku’kwes, many of the headlines include “MMIWG.” There is even a page dedicated to these stories.
MMIWG stands for missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. It is a hashtag and movement associated with the disproportionate violence against indigenous women and two-spirit people.
“Aboriginal women 15 years and older are 3.5 times more likely to experience violence than non-Aboriginal women,” according to the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC).
For the past few months, there has been a national inquiry into the issue that Ku’ku’kwes has been covering. Many of the stories include coverage of panels, hearings and other community gatherings related to this issue.
Googoo also produces and hosts a podcast for Ku’ku’kwes. The podcasts include interviews with community members and journalists talking about what is going on in their community.
A lot of the content is centered around issues in the indigenous community like missing and murdered women and girls. There are many stories and photos of people talking about their experiences and those they have lost. There are not many news organizations whose front page always contains images of people crying, but this is the reality for Ku’ku’kwes.
Ku’ku’kwes is an independent news organization. Googoo utilizes crowdfunding to keep the site running. She uses Patreon, a place designed for crowdfunding where people can choose a monthly amount to subscribe if they want to. People who give certain amounts receive gifts like mugs and shirts.
Currently, 85 total people have a subscriptions to Ku’ku’kwes totaling $502 USD monthly. The current monthly amount that Googoo wants to have to be able to run the site is $1,500 USD. When she gets more funding, Googoo would like to hire freelance reporters according to the Ku’ku’kwes Patreon site.
Googoo runs Ku’ku’kwes almost entirely by herself. She said in the CBC interview, “Some of [the communities]can be four hours away, some of them can be six hours away. So with more money I’ll be able to get on the road to travel more.”
According to the Canadian Journalism Project, more and more indigenous news organizations are turning to crowd funding because it gives them more freedom.
Ku’ku’kwes also utilizes social media to share their news stories with a wider audience. They have a combined audience of about 4,000 followers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Googoo created Ku’ku’kwes only a few years ago, but she has been able to build a pretty good following. The issues she covers on Ku’ku’kwes are important and personal.
