Responsible reporting
Reporting in Mi’kma’ki students interviewing Clifford Paul of the Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources at the Kluskap Cave (Photo by: Erin Moore).
When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called upon Canadian journalism programs to incorporate Indigenous education into their curriculum, NSCC Radio Television Journalism Faculty member Erin Moore knew she needed to respond. After consulting with Duncan McCue, an Anishinaabe journalist, who frequently helps journalists report on Indigenous communication, Erin gained valuable insights into various approaches taken by different institutions on how to respond to the call to action. Erin then made the decision to adapt a course created by the University of King’s College.
The course, Reporting in Mi'kma'ki, was initially developed by King's professor Terra Tailleur, who stopped teaching in 2023. This year, the course was co-led by Trina Roache, a member of the Glooscap Mi'kmaw community and an award-winning journalist with expertise in Indigenous reporting, alongside Erin contributed from NSCC.
The course includes two weeks of learning in community, for the past two years they’ve visited Eskasoni, the largest Mi'kmaw community in the world. In the future, the instructors hope to take students to other Mi’kmaw communities.
For NSCC students in the program, it’s a four-week course that they can take instead of a work placement in May. Although it’s not mandatory, students are eager to participate. In 2023, four NSCC students and six King’s students took part. “We wouldn’t take more than 12 students total into communities,” states Erin. “We are getting the numbers that we had hoped for.”
Students spend the first week of the course on King’s campus, where Trina, Terra and Erin teach the students about Mi’kmaq history, language, culture and background. “We try to give them some understanding before they go [to community] and they get to know each other first as well. That’s a unique part of the experience, but by far the part that makes it stand out is the two work weeks,” emphasizes Erin.
increase in Mi’kmaw students enrolled at NSCC in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23*, which reflects continuing work with Mi’kmaw community and programming to create more equitable enrolment processes.
Source: Annual College Milestone Enrolment Count
46% increase in Mi’kmaw students enrolled at NSCC in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23*, which reflects continuing work with Mi’kmaw community and programming to create more equitable enrolment processes.
Source: Annual College Milestone Enrolment Count
Community engagement and giving back
For the past three years, while the group was in Eskasoni, George Paul, also known as “PR George,” has been their Community Liaison. He works with the students and creates a daily schedule of activities and events. George has a journalism and public relations background and has been writing stories about his community of Eskasoni for nearly 25 years. He says he loved the idea when he first heard about the course and couldn’t wait to be a part of it. “Reporting in Mi’kma’ki is a beautiful program that incorporates the Mi’kmaq culture into its curriculum. The student is educated and enlightened by the beauty and the history of the Mi’kmaq, which, in turn, forms an appreciation and empathy of what it is like to walk in the moccasins of the Mi’kmaq,” says George. “For me, playing a major role in this course has been an honour. I take great pride in taking these young, non-Indigenous minds and showing them my experience as a Mi’kmaq reporter but more importantly, showing these students my people and my culture.”
Having someone from community guiding them while they’re there was an important part of the course. “George has been amazing,” expresses Erin. “He was essential to our success in Eskasoni.”
While in community, students aren’t just conducting interviews and producing stories; they spend time meeting and interacting with people and learning from Elders. “We talk about the four R’s - relationships, respect, responsibility and reciprocity, so that idea of giving back,” says Erin. The first year of the course, they participated in a community cleanup and last year, they spent a full day at the high school working with students and helping them learn the skills to interview Elders from their community. “We do that because we want to give back to them while we're here because they are giving us so much,” she adds. “It was incredible – such a powerful learning experience for all of us.”
“For me, playing a major role in this course has been an honour. I take great pride in taking these young, non-Indigenous minds, and showing them my experience as Mi’kmaq reporter but more importantly, showing these students my people and my culture.”
– George Paul, Reporting in Mi'kma'ki Community Liaison
Using best practices
Mitchell Ferguson, a Radio Television Journalism (RTJ) graduate, took part in the Reporting in Mi’kma’ki course in May 2022, just weeks before graduating in June. “I went into the RTJ program with a career in mind. I wanted to be a reporter, a journalist in Atlantic Canada in Mi’kma’ki. I thought it would be invaluable to know best practices,” he says. Today, he works as the Indigenous Affairs Reporter at the Cape Breton Post, using those best practices daily. “I think I described it at the time as the most profound learning that had happened during school,” says Mitchell, noting that the practical learning that NSCC is known for was amplified during this course.
Empowering through understanding
Erin states that the goal of the course is to encourage students to feel at ease when reporting on Indigenous stories, rather than refraining from covering them. “It's human nature that if we don't understand something, we can avoid it. No one ever wants to get anything wrong, but instead of trying, there can be avoidance,” points out Erin. “By increasing people's comfort and understanding by meeting people and connecting with them, there's something very powerful about what happens in terms of your growth as a human, but also your growth as a journalist.”
As a longtime journalist and program faculty, Erin says she is thankful to take part in the course. “When it comes to the experiences of spending time in Eskasoni and participating in all these cultural events, I am learning along with the students. It has been huge growth for me as an instructor and I have already brought it back into other classes,” she says.
A network of support
Erin says the course’s success at the College is a testament to the incredible support she received when first taking part in Reporting in Mi’kma’ki, including the NSCC Foundation, which funds the course for NSCC students. “We compensate any experts who are just meeting with us for their time,” she says, noting that they meet with a lot of experts over the four weeks. “We also didn't want to make money a barrier to the students who wanted to have this experience. So right now, it doesn't matter what socioeconomic background you come from, if you want to take this course, you can because it is fully funded. We could not do it without the funding from the Foundation,” she adds. “The support, encouragement and enthusiasm I've found from the Foundation about this course has been exciting and a little bit surprising because I know I was proposing something that we've never really done before, but there wasn’t any hesitation.”
Valuable learning
Mitchell believes the course should be mandatory for all journalists – even if they’ve already graduated and are working in the industry. “It's invaluable information,” he states. “I think a lot of the reporting around issues would be better if everybody had the chance to take it,” says Mitchell.
As a journalism instructor, Erin says media organizations look at this knowledge as valuable when considering who they should hire. “Every organization wants this type of experience and teaching.
There is an awareness and appreciation of it within the industry because they are trying to do the same thing within their own organizations,” she says.
Mitchell believes the Reporting in Mi’kma’ki course gave him the confidence to apply for his current role as Indigenous Affairs Reporter. “I feel really good that I have a career that I feel comfortable and fulfilled in. I feel like I made the right choice.”