ABSTRACT
The analysis in the last chapter captured the experiences and frustrations of Indigenous and racialized journalists shared through the racial reckoning related to systemic racism in news content and in newsrooms. This chapter builds on that study, reviewing the scholarship on the interplay between race and newsgathering over the last half-century, highlighting the impact of colonialism and hegemony on news production norms. Classic studies of the past demonstrated how production routines privilege official sources, typically powerful, white males, while under- and misrepresenting racialized and marginalized groups. Two cases from the racial reckoning are presented to draw the connection between the existing scholarship of race and journalistic practice and the current newsgathering environment. One discusses coverage of the Mi’kmaw lobster fishery on Canada’s Atlantic coast, and issues of false balance and missing historical context in the mainstream narrative. The other looks at the experiences of a Black photojournalist covering Black Lives Matter protests in New York and his approach to capture more authentic images. Both examples highlight the mistakes made as well as the potential remedies mainstream news can take to produce more equitable and accurate news content.
