Northern journalism training project heading to communities

A partnership between Wawatay and Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) on a project training journalists in communities across northern Ontario kicked off last week.
The Northern Ontario Initiative will see two journalism trainers spend three months each in six communities, training community members in print and radio journalism and helping them develop their own freelance journalism business.
The goal is to create greater awareness of First Nations issues in Ontario by training up to 30 people in remote communities how to produce and sell radio and print news stories about their communities.
Kimberly Stinson, one of the trainers for the project, came to northern Ontario after spending a number of years working as a journalist and teaching in Afghanistan. Stinson said she is looking forward to getting into the communities and helping people learn to tell their own stories.
“This is an opportunity to make a difference here at home in Canada, to help people find their voice,” Stinson said. “It’s also an opportunity for me to learn about the culture and experience a way of life that most people in Canada never have a chance to experience.”
Stinson will spend three months in Fort Severn starting in mid-July, before moving to Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug in the autumn and then North Caribou Lake in the winter.
Danny Kresnyak, another trainer, heads to Attawapiskat in July, Moose Cree in the autumn and Constance Lake in the winter.
While the trainers are in the communities, a project coordinator will be based in Thunder Bay to assist with the project while also hosting workshops in the city that bridge the gap between non-Aboriginal media outlets and Aboriginal communities.
Chris Kornacki, the project coordinator, said the Northern Ontario Initiative will be a good opportunity to “push the envelope” on getting mainstream media to adequately cover issues happening in the communities of the north.
“Whether it is a lack of housing, or lack of health care, in the longer term one goal is to have Canadians more involved in what’s happening up north,” Kornacki said.
But he also noted that the main outcome of the project is training community members to tell their community’s stories, rather than having to rely on outside media sources.
“We’ll be building the business side of being a freelance journalist as well,” Kornacki said.
“One of the goals is teaching how to make a living as a freelancer, so when the trainer leaves they’ll have a network of editors across the province and the country.”
The project also involves the creation of a website where all of the training documents will be online, so that people in other communities who wish to learn the information can access it.
While the project is just getting started, it has already been recognized with a media award.
On Aboriginal Day, the Canadian Ethnic Media Association will award the 2013 Innovation Award to Wawatay and JHR for the Northern Ontario Initiative.
“When we entered into this partnership, we didn’t anticipate to be recognized by such a prestigious association,” said Mike Metatawabin, chair of Wawatay’s board of directors. “Our goal at Wawatay is to support the communities in any way possible, to further their interests and development. This recognition will be very well appreciated by the communities.”
Anyone interested in getting more information on the project or finding out how to take the training course can contact Chris Kornacki at chris@jhr.ca or by calling Wawatay’s Thunder Bay office.