Rejecting, Marginalizing, and Erasing Indigenous Rights: Understanding News Media Framing in the Era of Reconciliation

This chapter reflects on the results of the frame and content analyses across the three case studies presented in Chapters 5 , 6 , and 7 . In light of the research findings, the argument is advanced that the news media remain deeply committed to a ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ model of reconciliation premised on the denial and erasure of hard Indigenous rights. The patterns in news coverage documented in this book demonstrate the news media’s ongoing institutional commitment for zero-sum settler sovereignty and unfettered extractive resource development across Indigenous lands and waters. This conclusion does not discount the presence of framing which offers an extensive discussion of Indigenous rights, histories, and worldviews. However, while these counternarratives are documented in the findings of this study—particularly within the analyses of Indigenous news media—they remain constrained by the scarcity of Indigenous journalists and editorialists writing for traditional print-based outlets. To date, the Canadian news media continue to rely primarily on the perspectives of settlers, both in terms of authorship and sourcing practices, to craft coverage of Indigenous politics. The chapter concludes by discussing the necessity of implementing reforms to the institutions of the news media in order to chart new representations and discourses around Indigenous rights and reconciliation in Canada.