OKANAGAN VALLEY, B.C. — Indigenous broadcaster APTN and digital news media company The Discourse announced today the launch of IndigiNews, a new local journalism platform serving First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
At launch, IndigiNews is serving Indigenous peoples in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, but will soon expand to Vancouver Island. The joint venture aims to address the long history of Canadian media poorly representing and perpetuating stereotypes about Indigenous communities, says the news release.
“Indigenous peoples have never been well served by local and national news media,” said Cheryl McKenzie, executive director of news and current affairs at APTN, in the release. “As the world’s first independent Indigenous broadcaster, APTN has worked to change that in Canada. We know we need new models and approaches to ensure independent Indigenous news remains strong into the future.”
IndigiNews has two goals: to provide journalism that is driven by local communities’ needs; and to develop new business models for local digital news that contribute to the long-term sustainability of independent Indigenous news. The digital news platform is launching in the midst of a local news crisis, says the release, with more than 50 local news outlets closed in the past six weeks in Canada as a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
“With local news experiencing an extinction event, underserved communities are getting less coverage and journalist layoffs have set back efforts to diversify newsrooms by many years. We can’t wait until the economic uncertainties caused by Covid-19 pass to ensure our communities get the local information they need to thrive during and after the pandemic,” said Erin Millar, founder and CEO of The Discourse.
The first team of Indigenous reporters hired by The Discourse in the Okanagan Valley (with funding support from the Local 
Journalism Initiative) includes Chehala Leonard (left), Athena Bonneau (middle) and Kelsie Kilawna (right).
“The world looks differently right now than it did before Covid-19, and maybe that’s not a bad thing,” said Emillee Gilpin, IndigiNews advisor and editor. “The Canadian media sphere has been out of balance for a long time. But with every great disruption comes profound growth and transformation.”
For more information about IndigiNews, please visit here.
