Trauma-informed education for journalists is important
By Samuel Tipewin.
Sharing news and stories is not a new concept among First Nations.
Elder Harry Francis from Piapot Cree First Nation says Indigenous tribes had messengers who carried news back and forth between camps.
“When a messenger would enter the homelands of a tribe, a scout of that tribe would notify his people and they would prepare for his arrival to greet him accordingly with food and a place to rest so he could regain his strength from his travels,” said Francis. “They would let him rest for a day or two until he was ready to deliver the news he carried. They would then gather and listen.”
Tribes recognized the hardship the news carrier faced both from the environment and from the emotional burden of delivering traumatic news.
That’s why the news carriers were always treated with kindness because it was a tough job.
Today those news carriers are called journalists and their job remains difficult emotionally, mentally and sometimes physically.
Until now, modern day trauma-informed education has flown under the radar.
However, two Indigenous professors – Concordia University’s Kristy Snell and First Nations University of Canada’s Dr Merelda Fiddler-Potter – are working to change things for future journalists.
They believe trauma-informed education is needed especially for Indigenous journalists who are reporting on Indigenous issues.
“We really want to help students,” said Fiddler-Potter. “We’re just trying to create something we wish we had had before we started.”
Snell felt the same way.
“We know what we didn’t get,” said Snell. “We know what we didn’t know.”
Both professors are also long-time journalists with decades of experience, so they know what they’re talking about.
Fiddler-Potter’s passion for journalism was born out of a love of writing.
It began with an interest in writing plays, but she opted not to pursue playwriting instead she channeled her love of writing into a prestigious journalism career.
Fiddler-Potter worked at CBC for almost two decades before deciding to pursue an academic career.
Today, she is a jointly appointed professor of Indigenous Communication Arts (INCA) and Indigenous business and public administration at the FNUniv.
Snell also fell in love with writing at an early age.
By the time she was 18, she was published in the Moose Jaw Times Herald.
Snell’s journalism career began at a local radio station before she moved on to CTV Saskatchewan, CBC Saskatchewan and then CBC Montreal.
She’s now a professor in Montreal.
The two powerhouse professors are on a mission to shine light on trauma-informed education for journalists and storytellers who specialize in Indigenous content.
Coming from similar backgrounds, they bonded over shared experiences in journalism and academia.
They had in-depth discussions about how stories can traumatize the person telling the story and the person gathering the story.
It wasn’t long before their discussions turned into action.
After some extensive online research, the pair realized there was no Indigenous-focused program that covered trauma-informed education.
Both Fiddler-Potter and Snell want to create something to prepare journalists for what they will face on the job. It will be something they know would have benefited them.
