News Media Coverage of Indigenous Politics in Canada

The previous chapter described the overarching characteristics of the relationship between the Canadian state and Indigenous Peoples. Importantly, while settler colonialism continues to structure how the state attempts to govern over Indigenous communities and lands, settler-Indigenous relations are far from static. Further, settler colonialism in Canada extends beyond the direct relationship between the state and Indigenous Peoples to include a broad range of social, political, and cultural institutions/actors. These other institutions/actors are highlighted in the TRC’s 94 Calls to Action and include the healthcare system, public educators, judges and lawyers, child welfare services, and, of course, media organizations and journalists. This chapter situates the news media within broader settler colonial processes and institutional relationships which perpetuate power imbalances between the settler state and Indigenous Peoples. The first half of this chapter surveys the Canadian political communications literature to unpack the normative role that the news media play within liberal democratic politics. I pair this survey with a review of the critical political communications literature which focuses on the relationship between news media representations and power hierarchies structured around race, gender, sexuality, and class. I highlight that despite the Canadian news media’s self-conception as democratic watchdogs and public educators, research has demonstrated consistent racialized, gendered, and colonial patterns in coverage of Canadian politics.