Respond to media representations of a particular current issue involving Indigenous peoples in BC. The issue to be focused on will be determined by the student. The short essay should engage with at least 2 or 3 recent newspaper articles (online news sources are fine as well) and be 500-750 words double-spaced. The essay should demonstrate your understanding of the issue discussed, how it is represented in the media, and how it might apply to our studies in this course.
Ok, so here is what I want you to do:
1) Find TWO or THREE recent (i.e. within the last year or so) news articles. Some potentially good sources would be CBC, The Tyee, The Vancouver Sun, APTN, The Province, The Globe and Mail, The National Post
2) The articles you choose should be connected in some way, i.e. they all examine a similar issue or topic, community, etc.; or they all develop an ongoing news story
3) Summarize each article concisely, what are the general themes?
4) Discuss how each article frames the issue it focuses on: What information does it present to you?; How are Indigenous peoples represented in the articles? For example, are there direct quotes from individuals, photographs, non-indigenous opinions, etc.?
5) Evaluate the articles. Do you think the reporting is biased in any way? What did you learn from reading these articles?
6) Consider how the issue(s) discussed in the articles you have chosen might be important to consider in the context of this class.
7) Provide a list of the articles you have discussed at the end of your mini-essay.