Reconciliation and the role of the journalist : Indigenous peoples, truth, stories, and public policy

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy, University of Regina. v, 153 p. The role mainstream media plays in public policy agenda-setting is discussed in a number of books and papers, and takes up considerable space in the agenda-setting literature. This study examines the role mainstream media played in both shaping and sharing narratives about Indigenous peoples. It looks at the frequency with which the media discussed specific stories and policy alternatives, the venues it connected these policies to, and how frequently each was shared. It also identifies key policy actors and how each capitalized on the windows of opportunity media created to advocate for their policy alternatives to move from the public and media agendas to the government agenda. This study uses two case studies, the push for a National Inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and the acquittal of Gerald Stanley, to examine the media’s role in the policy process. The cases are dramatically different, but in each historical and contemporary narratives can be clearly identified. The affect these have on policy narratives and storytelling in the media then leads to distinct policy alternatives winning out in specific venues. Finally, the study uses Indigenous data-gathering methods in combination with public policy theory to consider how truth is shared in stories, how this affects the narratives that inform the process, and how this in turn leads to changes in policy decisions. It then concludes with a conversation about the role the media plays in the public policy process, and therefore the process of reconciliation in Canada, through the lens of Elders, Knowledge Keepers, journalists, policymakers, and Indigenous people who are part of this overall process. If we are to achieve any meaningful sense of reconciliation in this country, these are the kinds of conversations we will need to have in order to inform that process. Student yes