Racial and Cultural Diversity in The Newsroom

In the same way that Canadian news reporting does not reflect Canada’s multiculturalism, racial diversity ‘behind the scenes’ of news media is similarly disproportionate. Almost a quarter of the Canadian population identifies as a member of what Statistics Canada refers to as a “visible minority,” and while a 2021 study found a similar rate of representation in newsrooms, eight in ten Canadian newsrooms have no racialized journalists in leadership roles.

Diversity in Media, Journalism & News, Religion, Stereotyping

Racial and Cultural Diversity and Canadian Broadcasting Policy

Canada’s Broadcasting Act, last amended in 1991, outlines industry guidelines for portrayal of diversity.

Diversity in Media, Stereotyping, Television, Visible Minorities

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Canadian Broadcasting Policy

Canada’s Broadcasting Act, last amended in 1991, outlines industry guidelines for portrayal of diversity.

Diversity in Media, Gender Representation, 2SLGBTQ+ Representation, Stereotyping

Representation of Diversity in Media – Overview

What we see – and don’t see – in media affects how we view reality. Media works can be imagined either as mirrors that reflect an audience’s own experience, windows that give them access to experiences they otherwise wouldn’t have known, or in some cases both.

Diversity in Media, Stereotyping, Visible Minorities

Indigenous people in the news

More than anything else in media, news coverage influences what people and which issues are part of the national conversation and how those issues are talked about.[1] When it comes to Indigenous people and communities, constitutional issues, forest fires, poverty, sexual abuse and drug addiction sometimes appear to be the only topics are reported in the news.

Indigenous People, Diversity in Media, Journalism & News

Indigenous expression in the arts and media

In the 19th century, Métis leader Louis Riel reportedly predicted: “My people will sleep for one hundred years. When they awaken, it will be the artists who give them back their spirit.” Most Indigenous groups in Canada have relied on the oral tradition to convey an idea, message or value.

Diversity in Media, Indigenous People

Media portrayals of missing and murdered Indigenous women

That Indigenous women are likely to be victims of violence is not news: Indigenous women aged 25 to 44 are five times more likely to suffer a violent death than other women in Canada.

Indigenous People, Diversity in Media, Journalism & News, Stereotyping

Media portrayals of racial and cultural diversity - Overview

Media speaks volumes about what is important in a society. What we see in media can have an impact on how we see other groups and how we see ourselves.

Diversity in Media, Stereotyping, Visible Minorities

Indigenous Representation in Media

Indigenous people remain highly stereotyped in most mass media, in ways that are sometimes less remarked upon than stereotypes of other groups. This section examines how Indigenous people are represented, and participate, in various media and how media education can help both Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth understand the impact of stereotyped representations.

Diversity in Media, Indigenous People

The impact of stereotyping on young people

Generations of North American children have grown up watching “cowboys and Indians” films and TV shows and reading books such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Little House on the Prairie. Popular films and novels reinforced the notion that Indigenous people existed only in the past—forever chasing buffalo or being chased by the cavalry. These images showed them as destined to remain on the margins of “real” society. Such impressions and childhood beliefs, set at an early age, are often the hardest to shake: as Anishinaabe writer Jesse Wente explains, “In the absence of appropriate representations of Indigenous Peoples in the media, misrepresentations become the accepted ‘truth.’”[1]

Indigenous People, Diversity in Media, Stereotyping