Indigenous Underrepresentation in Mainstream Media and how Social Media is Utilized to Increase Representation

Belfer, E., Ford, J. D., & Maillet, M. (2017). Representation of Indigenous peoples in climate change reporting. Climatic Change, 145(1), 57-70.

Belfer, Ford, and Maillet (2017) look at how Indigenous peoples have been covered and portrayed in newspapers in the context of climate change reporting. There are also considerable discrepancies in the volume, topic, and framing of news reported across the four nations. The article will be very important in allowing my research to highlight the role of mainstream media and how it portrays Indigenous populations, including the biases therein and ways to bypass these to ensure that proper pictures of these societies are painted for the rest of the world.

Gone, J. P., Hartmann, W. E., Pomerville, A., Wendt, D. C., Klem, S. H., & Burrage, R. L. (2019). The impact of historical trauma on health outcomes for indigenous populations in the USA and Canada: A systematic review. American Psychologist, 74(1), 20.

Gone et al. (2019) focus on the Indigenous populations in Canada and the United States, highlighting their historical traumas and the impact of the same on health outcomes. From a psychological point of view, the article shows how the Indigenous communities came to be isolated and “cast” away from mainstream conversations evidenced today. The content of the paper will be used to add on to the conversation and to provide a clearer picture of what is on the ground versus what it can be.

Harvey, A. (2020), Feminist Media Studies. Representing Gender. Cambridge, UK, Polity Press, 211 pp.

Harvey (2020) focuses primarily on feminist media studies and more on gender representation in the mainstream media. The article pushes the position that the media can be used to influence society and its perspective on issues including the role of women in society. This is important to my study as it opens up an argument regarding the applicability of the feminist media theory, an issue that will be explored to show how other sections of society can be represented through social media.

Kirmayer, L., Simpson, C., & Cargo, M. (2003). Healing traditions: Culture, community and mental health promotion with Canadian Aboriginal peoples. Australasian Psychiatry, 11(1_suppl), S15-S23.

The primary goal of this article is to highlight concerns and concepts that may be used to drive the creation of culturally relevant mental health promotion programs for Indigenous individuals and populations throughout Canada. The findings of this paper will be very important for my study as they will facilitate an argument surrounding the neglect of the First Nations by the mainstream media on critical maters such as health and interactions with the rest of the world.

Lavrence, C., & Cambre, C. (2020). “Do I Look Like My Selfie?”: Filters and the Digital-Forensic Gaze. Social Media+ Society, 6(4), 2056305120955182.

The focus of this paper is how social media is used today as a main source of information, and how the platforms therein can be used to distort the true picture, create a façade, and influence the position of society. The writers investigate the ambiguity and concern over authenticity that filters create, as well as the obsessive staring habits used to decode the validity of photographs. This will be applied in my research to provide an argument on the role of social media as a social and culture influencer.

Okimakanak, K. (2014). Research in Brief Social Media in Remote First Nation Communities. Canadian Journal of Communication, 39, 275-288.

This article is the basis of my argument and largely informs my case study of the Sioux Lookout region of Northwestern Ontario. A survey conducted by the author involving internet usage amongst the Sioux people investigates the connection between social media and the resilience of communities in tackling social and political issues. Although many societies have deep cultural and family ties, maintaining frequent interactions in order to build cultural bonds was difficult until the relatively recent widespread adoption of the Internet.

Oyedemi, T. D. (2019). Global digital capitalism: Mark Zuckerberg in Lagos and the political economy of Facebook in Africa. International Journal of Communication, 13, 17. 

With increased adoption of mobile telecoms services, especially mobile Internet, Africa is blossoming regarding the use and demand for digital tools, according to the article. The article highlights how regions that were previously neglected in terms of being newsworthy on mainstream media are now using social media platforms such as Facebook to bring out their own narratives to the rest of the world. I will use this article to support my position and to further inform the argument that social media provides more representation for remote populations as evidenced in Africa.

Steinman, E. (2019). Why was Standing Rock and the# NoDAPL campaign so historic? Factors affecting American Indian participation in social movement collaborations and coalitions. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 42(7), 1070-1090.

Canada still has a lot of work to do in the area of reconciliation. The impacts of colonization are still being felt by First Nations peoples today. The paper provides a key point of view that will be used in my paper to show the changing times and how social media is facilitating social involvement of the Indigenous populations.