The UBC Graduate School of Journalism project...

The UBC Graduate School of Journalism project provides an in-depth look at efforts by Aboriginal communities to address such major health and social issues as suicide, sexual abuse, diabetes and the survival of traditional languages. The series of original news stories can be seen at www.indigenousreporting.com and was created by students in UBC’s inaugural Reporting in Indigenous Communities class. The eight multimedia stories result from a unique partnership with Metro Vancouver Aboriginal communities where UBC graduate students were assigned to cover important community news as “embedded” journalists. “Far too often, news media portray Aboriginal people in ways that reinforce negative or inaccurate stereotypes,” said Duncan McCue, CBC reporter and UBC Graduate School of Journalism adjunct professor who led the course. “By exposing the next generation of journalists to Aboriginal stories, cultures and protocols, we have produced a series that shows Aboriginal people not as victims, but as catalysts of positive change.” The five Aboriginal course partners are the Squamish First Nation, Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, Tsawwassen First Nation, Sto:lo First Nation and the Metro Vancouver Aboriginal Executive Council. The national CBC program The Story from Here is scheduled to broadcast the entire series as a one-hour radio documentary on June 20.