Kudos for coverage

Page 5

Dear Editor:

Windspeaker did an excellent job at explaining the escalating risks journalists face as they work to keep communities informed in the article entitleds "Heavy price paid to bring you the story"-May 2004 issue.

We were also glad to see the story take the lid off a topic rarely covered in the Canadian media: the unbalanced coverage of Aboriginal issues in that same mainstream media.

Windspeaker's story also doesn't shy away from the difficulties the Aboriginal media often has in getting access to Aboriginal sources. APTN's Ken Williams said leaders may fear Aboriginal reporters' stronger, more informed questions. Stewart Phillips, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, said political organizations are wrong to try and suppress reporting on controversial issues.

It's a complex, multi-faceted story we've also been covering in a course called Mainstream Media Coverage of Aboriginal Issues in our Aboriginal Media Program since 1997.

As responsible journalists it is our job to tell all sides of the story, whether the story is about confrontation, corruption, and scandal, or whether it's a positive, inspirational or success story. Journalism doesn't always have to be about winners and losers, or good people and bad people. But good journalism should offer a variety of perspectives from varying informed sources.

It's ridiculous to think that Aboriginal journalists would be too biased to cover Aboriginal issues. Kanehsatake's Dan David dispels this myth by providing the most in-depth analysis of the situation at Kanehsatake to date in his column "Aboriginal media just whistling Dixie."

Furthermore, less myopic media coverage of foreign issues often comes from foreign correspondents who have an ethnic connection to the story. Kudos to Windspeaker for bringing this ethical debate to the forefront!

Brant Bardy, co-ordinator,

Aboriginal Media Program

First Nations Technical Institute

Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory