(File Photo/650 CKOM)

By Derek Craddock

STORIES THAT NEED TO BE TOLD

‘I’m really worried’: What will the future hold for Indigenous news media in Sask?

Feb 23, 2024 | 5:00 PM

Imagine if a First Nations story could no longer be told and the voices were silenced with no certainty on whether or not they could ever be heard again.

While that may seem farfetched for many, especially in the age of digital information and social media, for some who still rely on newspapers in northern Saskatchewan, it’s becoming more of a reality.

Last week, Eagle Feather News, an Indigenous news publication based in Saskatoon announced it was going on hiatus after more than 27 years in print.

The newspaper is working on improving its online presence but, for the time being, its physical newspaper won’t be available.

In a post on the Eagle Feather News website, Editor-In-Chief and co-owner Kerry Benjoe said the Online News Act, which was passed last year, contributed to the hiatus for the newspaper, as ad revenue from Facebook and Google has dropped substantially.

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In an interview with paNOW, Benjoe said it’s an uncertain future for her and her staff, as well as the future of smaller news agencies like Eagle Feather.

“We’re the fallout of what happened with the Online News Act,” she said. “We have come become so accustomed to social media that we as readers have forgotten the value of news and it’s really unfortunate because it’s not just Eagle Feather suffering, it’s all the other news outlets suffering, but because we’re so small, we’re going to be the hardest hit. I’m really worried about the state of news right now and storytelling in general.”

Benjoe added that while the Online News Act was created with good intentions, very little input was received from news organizations big and small and she felt the legislation was rushed.

That Bill, as well as declines in ad revenue, has proven tough for many media companies in recent years.

Corporations have made massive cuts to newsrooms and print publications, including recent decisions by Bell Media to remove 4,800 positions and sell over 40 radio stations. CBC and Radio-Canada made similar cuts last year.

According to the Local News Research Project, an initiative from Toronto Metropolitan University, J-Source and the Canadian Association of Journalists, several Saskatchewan media outlets have either closed, cancelled some services or cut back on coverage since 2020.

A map was created to highlight the struggles media publications were facing due to government restrictions and rules imposed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This included the Cut Knife Highway 40 Courier, which closed in September 2020, the Spiritwood Herald and Shellbrook Chronicle which merged in March 2020, and the Saskatoon Star Phoenix which stopped publishing a print edition on Mondays.

A map shows news publications that have closed or cut back since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Local News Research Project)

Shannon Avison is an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Communication Arts at First Nations University. She said the issues facing many small news publications started long before the Online News Act when companies started shifting their advertising dollars to social media and Google.

“That’s when all of the media started to struggle and decline, and I think because Indigenous media has smaller audiences and tighter budgets, they probably felt it and also because of the nature of the advertising,” she said. “Many of the ads in Eagle Feather are bigger corporations so, when those got pulled and they started using Facebook and Google instead, It really devastated Eagle Feather.”

On top of sharing stories from smaller communities and human-interest pieces often missed by mainstream media corporations, Avison said that having newspapers is still relevant, especially to northern and remote communities.

“For older people that don’t want to sit and scroll through Facebook, they want to read the newspaper and save the newspaper and…where connectivity can be an issue.”

Avison referenced another popular Indigenous publication in the Saskatchewan Indian, a magazine that was popular in the 1970s. It resurfaced in 2006 by the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) to combat negativity around First Nations people in the media.

As a professor, Avison pointed out that papers like Eagle Feather News provided some of the first opportunities for aspiring Indigenous students, some of whom would go on to work for bigger news companies in Canada and abroad.

But it was more than just the job opportunities that made Eagle Feather News unique, it was sharing the stories of Indigenous people that would often never be shared. Avison said that many people, including herself, still have a physical copy of an Eagle Feather newspaper which highlighted them, something she and Benjoe admit is not the same in digital format.

“We have had such a presence within the province and because we’re not in direct competition with mainstream media,” said Benjoe. “I’ve had a lot of mainstream media outlets reach out to me and they’re worried about Eagle Feather because I think it’s really difficult for a lot of mainstream media outlets to find those little nuggets, those good human interest stories. (It’s) become a source for them to find stories, interesting stories that they don’t have to go out and research and find.”

So, what does the future hold for papers like Eagle Feather News and will Indigenous stories continue to be told in Saskatchewan?

While Benjoe said they are trying to work on a plan, there is still a degree of pessimism, knowing that unless things change financially, they could either move to online only or completely dissolve.

In Avison’s line of work at First Nations University, her students are also learning the importance of public relations and communications which provide story ideas and information to news outlets. It also gives another avenue to share important stories.

“As journalism is sort of trying to find his footing again and figure out how to survive in this new industry, in this new community information world of relations and communications, strategic communication is the other really important opportunity.”

But at the end of the day, she believed that Eagle Feather News and other news outlets need the support of readers and businesses alike to survive in the future.

“We are in danger of losing an incredibly important space—where the successes of young people, the contributions of our veterans and elders, the successes of our communities and business, are celebrated,” she said. “I hope that the First Nations and Metis communities and businesses, and the non-Indigenous organizations that want to connect and build partnerships and recruit too, I hope we all recognize the value of Eagle Feather and use it to our advantage. If we lose it, we’re all going to feel that loss.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com