ArticlePDF Available

Framing Canada's aboriginal peoples: A comparative analysis of indigenous and mainstream television news

Authors:
Brad Clark at Mount Royal University
Brad Clark
Download full-text PDF
Read full-text
Download citation

Abstract

While much of the scholarship on media representations of Aboriginal peoples in Canada has focused on newspaper accounts, this study examines the national television news discourse. A comparative news frames analysis contrasts content from the three mainstream English-language television networks-Global Television, The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and CTV-with stories of the same issues and events that aired on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). The analysis reveals frames associated with longstanding colonial stereotypes of Indigenous people found in newspapers are also prevalent in television news, while frames of Aboriginal context occur at a much lower rate. APTN stories do contain some stereotypic frames but with a greater tendency to include frames of Aboriginal context.
Content uploaded by Brad Clark
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Brad Clark on Jun 03, 2016
Content may be subject to copyright.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
FRAMING CANADA'S ABORIGINAL PEOPLES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF INDIGENOUS AND MAINSTREAM TELEVISI...
Clark, Brad, DComm
The Canadian Journal of Native Studies; 2014; 34, 2; CBCA Complete
pg. 41
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
... The territorial intentions shaped political framing of Indigenous peoples by the DIA (later INAC/Crown-Indigenous affairs), which in turn provided the racialized stereotypes and tropes perpetuated by government officials (Clark, 2014;Environics Institute for Survey Research, 2016;Fisher, 1980;Francoeur, 2018;Mudde, 2018). Territorial acquisition legitimated by tropes or stereotypes of racial inferiority justified measures to remove Indigenous territorial claims in favour of settler society and white virtue (Carter, 1990;Harris, 1993). ...
... My analysis of these media platforms revealed public confusion, concern, and bias towards the IRSSA and TRC process. Recurring negative stereotypes and tropes emerge in the sources framing Indigenous leadership, people, and communities involved as depraved, inferior, and resistant to progress (Clark, 2014;Environics Institute for Survey Research, 2016;Francoeur, 2018). The recurrence of these pre-existing stereotypes is problematic as stereotypes come with material and immaterial consequences for those implicated in the stereotypes (Smith, 2009). ...
... Not only does Nickson call Indigenous people "Indians," she also blames Indigenous people in the TRC process of "working the situation." The National Post and The Globe and Mail provide the platforms that most obviously display the recitation of three tropes: framing Indigenous people as depraved, inferior, and as resistant to progress (Clark, 2014;Francoeur, 2018). These rhetorical patterns discerned through the diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational frames reveal how historical racialized stereotypes are repeated in these journalistic and editorial narratives. ...
Framing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Process in Canada: A Media Analysis of Settler Colonial Rhetoric and Colonial Denial, 2003-2016
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2020
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada helped to expose the trauma experienced by Indigenous peoples in Canada’s Indian Residential Schools (IRS), which were governed and run by government and church officials. In 2008, the Canadian government formally apologized for these residential schools. This apology was undermined, however, by a denial of colonial history by Canada at the G20 in 2009, revealing a rhetorical contradiction that is part of a public narrative of colonial denial. This paper examines the public discourse during and after the TRC process to understand the impact of negative discourses regarding the TRC and colonialism. This case study examines written content from five Canadian media platforms that covered the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and TRC process between 2003 and 2016. Drawing on concepts such as the white possessive, white rage, and white fragility, the aim of this paper is to unpack the cognitive dissonance of apology concurrent with the rhetoric of settler colonial denial. Findings from the discourse analysis substantiate the hypothesis that continued dominant narratives of settler colonialism align with representations of the TRC process. This limits the authentic potential for a formal apology to address the IRS legacy which perpetuates continued settler colonial realities in Canada.
View
... In looking at mainstream coverage of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, the promises of ethical coverage in journalism have been absent [78]. In perhaps the country's most comprehensive account, Anderson and Robertson [79] track discourses of Indigenous Peoples through newspaper articles from 1869 to 2009 and suggest that the images produced have not changed significantly since settler-colonialism first began. ...
... In cases of resource development, Indigenous communities are often portrayed as "standing in the way of badly needed jobs" while authors ignore important historical context, 13 and the spiritual and cultural connections to traditional lands ( [78]; p. 56). In some cases, Indigenous resistance against development are often conflated as "terrorism" [84,138] or "eco-terrorism" [43,139]. ...
... In Australia, Mesikämmen [117] tells how normative journalistic practices -including the privileging of 'official' and 'expert' voices-has the effect of silencing Indigenous perspectives and continues dominant discourses of settlers. Thus, in Canada and other colonial states, Indigenous communities oscillate between invisible and hypervisible in the media-consuming public [78]. ...
View
... The news media framing of Indigenous peoples in Canada has tended to reflectand continues to reflect-the influence of colonial ideology (Clark, 2014a). ...
Cloaked Meaning and Moral Craftwork: Progress and Perpetual Problems in the News Coverage of Indigenous Peoples and Canada's Justice System
Article
  • Sep 2021
Background: This research offers a critical analysis of the “moral craftwork” of the news media’s coverage of Canada’s Indigenous peoples and the justice system. Analysis: This study’s thematic analysis of three case studies, spanning almost two decades, suggests a potential shift in how Canadian journalists report on racism and structural inequalities. Recent news coverage points toward a more transparent dialogue about racism. Conclusions and implications: This study finds problematic journalistic practices linger, occluding a broader understanding of racism and colonialism. This research aims to expand the reflexivity of journalists by spotlighting this type of storytelling.
View
... Because of this, many scholars have taken to the task of understanding the development of discourse through varying analyses, and the role they play within stereotyping, formulating prejudices, and facilitating overt forms of racism (Anderson & Robertson, 2011., Longstaffe, 2017., Knopf, 2010., Strass & Vogel, 2018., Hearne, 2017. Specifically, scholars have contextualized such discourse development through representations in media and have looked to understand the way discourse is utilized to represent Indigenous peoples (e.g., Clark, 2014., Hearne, 2017., Longstaffe, 2017., Lam, Cunsolo, Sawatzky et al., 2017. Henceforth, this paper intends to add to a growing body of research surrounding Indigenous media representation through a content and discourse analysis. ...
The Framing of Indigenous Canadian Families: A Historical Discourse Analysis
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2020
To gain a comprehensive understanding of how Indigenous Canadian family life is framed in Canadian newspapers, 160 years of discourse was examined. To accomplish this analysis, newspaper articles were coded for themes relating to family and parenting, which was then compared to framing theory (Entman, 1993). This study concluded Indigenous families can be recognized through three distinct eras, each of which contributes to the development of discourse and the framing of Indigenous families. These findings are discussed concerning cultural framing and its effects on Indigenous populations.
View
... Furthermore, their knowledge may be rooted in stereotypical conceptions and portrayals of Indigenous peoples, in part borne from negative views encountered through the media, as well as throughout their education and in medical school from peers and teachers. [12][13][14][15] The delivery of relevant knowledge bases, particularly pertaining to the social determinants of health, has been shown to positively impact the comfort of medical interns with discussing social issues with their patients and their ability to self-reflect [16,17], but there are also limitations to the impact of knowledge alone. In this regard, Beagan (2003) [18] reported that medical students at one Canadian University believed that learning about social and cultural issues was "all very nice to talk about in theory, but ultimately it makes no difference [on the wards]." ...
Predictors of medical student interest in Indigenous health learning and clinical practice: A Canadian case study
Article
Full-text available
Background Including content on Indigenous health in medical school curricula has become a widely-acknowledged prerequisite to reducing the health disparities experienced by Indigenous peoples in Canada. However, little is known about what levels of awareness and interest medical students have about Indigenous peoples when they enter medical school. Additionally, it is unclear whether current Indigenous health curricula ultimately improve students’ beliefs and behaviours. Methods A total of 129 students completed a 43-item questionnaire that was sent to three cohorts of first-year medical students (in 2013, 2014, 2015) at one undergraduate medical school in Canada. This survey included items to evaluate students’ sociopolitical attitudes towards Indigenous people, knowledge of colonization and its links to Indigenous health inequities, knowledge of Indigenous health inequities, and self-rated educational preparedness to work with Indigenous patients. The survey also assessed students’ perceived importance of learning about Indigenous peoples in medical school, and their interest in working in an Indigenous community, which were examined as outcomes. Using principal component analysis, survey items were grouped into five independent factors and outcomes were modelled using staged multivariate regression analyses. Results Generally, students reported strong interest in Indigenous health but did not believe themselves adequately educated or prepared to work in an Indigenous community. When controlling for age and gender, the strongest predictors of perceived importance of learning about Indigenous health were positive sociopolitical attitudes about Indigenous peoples and knowledge about colonization and its links to Indigenous health inequities. Significant predictors for interest in working in an Indigenous community were positive sociopolitical attitudes about Indigenous peoples. Knowledge about Indigenous health inequities was negatively associated with interest in working in an Indigenous community. Conclusions Students’ positive sociopolitical attitudes about Indigenous peoples is the strongest predictor of both perceived importance of learning about Indigenous health and interest in working in Indigenous communities. In addition to teaching students about the links between colonization, health inequities and other knowledge-based concepts, medical educators must consider the importance of attitude change in designing Indigenous health curricula and include opportunities for experiential learning to shape students’ future behaviours and ultimately improve physician relationships with Indigenous patients. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12909-018-1401-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
View
View
Racial stereotyping of indigenous people in the Canadian media: A comparative analysis of two water pollution incidents
Article
  • Apr 2021
This article examines the discourse surrounding issues affecting Indigenous peoples within the Canadian mainstream media. We compare the coverage of two cases of water poisonings-one in a primarily-white town and the other in an Indigenous community-in 282 newspaper articles from the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and Windspeaker. We show that the dominant coverage of these two very similar cases diverged significantly. The Indigenous workers in charge of the water supply were regarded as incompetent and incapable to fill their position while the entire community was described as drunk, lazy, helpless, and perpetually dependent on government aide. By contrast, white workers were seen as relatable and in command of their erroneous actions, while the residents of the town were described simply as the victims of an unfortunate tragedy. Such reporting fails to contextualize the events or point out the injustices of Canadian colonialism, thus contributing to the perpetuation of these injustices.
View
Northwest Passages: Framing by Local, National and Public Media in Canada's Arctic
Article
During the summer of 2016, the largest cruise ship ever to transit the Northwest Passage traveled through the Canadian Arctic, carrying more than 1,600 passengers and crew. That event resulted in a tremendous influx of tourists, considering the population the entire territory of Nunavut is only 36,000. This study examines how local media played a critical role in representing local community values in coverage of that remarkable cruise. The complete English Canadian textual coverage of the voyage by three media segments was compiled: local media, national media, and a national public broadcaster. A framing analysis revealed significant differences in how each of the three media segments frames the news. Local media placed significantly more emphasis on political, bureaucratic, and environmental frames than did national media, yet used human interest frames at about the same frequency. Furthermore, local media's selection of frames was more diverse than was evident in coverage from national media or the public broadcaster. In addition, the study reveals that the public broadcaster frames stories independently of local and national media, a finding which serves to emphasize the distinct value of each media segment in forming complete coverage of this story.
View
“Warriors don’t sleep til noon”: colonial rhetoric and the framing of Indigenous recipients of welfare in Canadian print news, 1990–2015
Article
  • Jun 2019
This article explores the media framing of Indigenous peoples as recipients of welfare in eight English-language Canadian major dailies from January 1, 1990 to December 31, 2015. Using automated coding and cluster analyses to uncover core topics in the coverage, this research asks: (1) What are the central themes or frames in articles pertaining to Indigenous recipients of social assistance? (2) Does the use or frequency of these frames change over the selected timeline or between the different newspapers under study? (3) How does the coverage of Indigenous peoples as recipients of welfare contribute to larger connotations regarding Indigenous self-governance? This analysis finds that news stories predominantly focus on unemployment rates among Indigenous communities, as well as Indigenous peoples’ experiences with the criminal justice system and supposed dependence on welfare. The coverage of Indigenous recipients represents a colonial narrative that relies on harmful stereotypes and does not reflect the colonial roots of many socio-economic problems facing Indigenous communities today. Effectively, this paper argues that the coverage of Indigenous recipients of welfare both overtly and covertly undermines support for Indigenous sovereignty by depicting Indigenous peoples and their leaders as “unprepared” to manage their own affairs.
View
Reflecting which Canada?: A source analysis of canadian network television news
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2013
There has been a good deal of research documenting the degree to which mainstream news media have misrepresented, stereotyped or simply ignored racial minorities. A common approach to improve the coverage of marginalized groups-identified by academics, bureaucrats and industry representatives-is the hiring of minority journalists. The theory goes that more inclusive news begins with a more inclusive newsroom. However, this assumption has only been tested in a handful of studies in the United States and never in Canada, a country built on immigration, with a legislative mandate calling on broadcasters to "reflect" Canada's "multicultural and multiracial nature". This quantitative study sets out to examine that assumption. A content analysis of Canada's three national, mainstream nightly English newscasts seriously calls into question the notion that newsroom diversity results in greater news source diversity. White sources are over-represented in these newscasts regardless of the ethnic background of the journalist. This study also reaffirms a very low participation rate by Aboriginal people as both reporters and news sources in mainstream television news.
View
View
Nationalism and Media Coverage of Indigenous People's Collective Action in Canada
Article
Full-text available
It is not that reporters and editors are consciously seeking to delegitimize collective actors, but rather that the process of creating the news often leads to this result.Coverage of indigenous peoples’ collective action in Canada and the United States has been predominantly delegitimizing: stories overwhelm-ingly emphasize militancy and violence.
View
Historical representations of Aboriginal people in the Canadian news media
Article
Full-text available
Understanding historical news discourse on aboriginal issues is a first step towards situating aboriginal policy matters within a contemporary socio-political context. Using methods of critical discourse analysis, selected newspaper coverage of four ‘flashpoints’ in the history of aboriginal-non-aboriginal relations in Canada is examined. In addition to drawing contrasts between mid-19th and late-20th-century representations of aboriginal people in the media, some of the broader features of news discourse about aboriginal issues are elucidated, including the news frames employed, and the way meaning is structured through the use of equations, oppositions, headlines, lead paragraphs, sources and other techniques. A significant finding of this study is the degree to which news discourse about aboriginal people has remained constant over the last century and half. In the 1990s, these issues were framed, much as they were in colonial times, in ways that protect dominant interests and signify aboriginal people as a threat.
View
Cultural Diversity and Global Media: The Mediation of Difference
Article
  • Feb 2010
Cultural Diversity and Global Media explores the relationship between the media and multiculturalism. Summarises and critically discusses current approaches to multiculturalism and the media from a global perspecive Explores both the theoretical debates and empirical findings on multiculturalism and the media Assumes the new perspective of mediation of cultural diversity, which critically combines elements of previous theories in order to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the media and cultural diversity Explores media 'moments' of production, representation and consumption, while incorporating arguments on their shifting roles and boundaries Examines separately the role of the internet, which is linked to many changes in patterns of media production, representation and to increased possibilities for diasporic and transnational communication Contains pedagogical features that enable readers to understand and critically engage with the material, and draws upon and reviews an extensive bibliography, providing a useful reference tool.
View
View