JHR's Indigenous Reporters Program celebrates three years of media training
THUNDER BAY, ON, Aug. 9, 2021 /CNW/ - Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) is pleased to announce that its Indigenous Reporters Program (IRP) has successfully completed a further three years of media training activities for First Nations communities in northwestern Ontario, with the help of a $750,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF). This grant, awarded to JHR in 2017 for a three-year period and then extended into the first part of 2021, enabled JHR to continue delivering journalism and media literacy workshops in the area.
"I'm proud of the work of Journalists for Human Rights through the Indigenous Reporters Program. Voices, perspectives, and stories from First Nations' peoples and communities need to be heard in their own right. Congratulations to everyone involved, from organizers to volunteers," said Judith Monteith-Farrell, MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan.
Through IRP's training activities, JHR has supported First Nations community members in writing and publishing stories from their communities in such leading mainstream outlets as The Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, APTN, TVO.org as well as community publications like Wawatay News and Kenora Miner & News. In doing so, IRP seeks to increase the quality and quantity of Indigenous stories and voices in Canadian media.
"It is critically important to address the disproportionately low representation of Indigenous perspectives in the media, something JHR has been doing since 2012. Recent painful revelations regarding the remains of children found buried on residential school grounds across the country have helped to demonstrate to all Canadians that hearing from and being informed by Indigenous perspectives and voices is more relevant than ever," said Rachel Pulfer, Executive Director of Journalists for Human Rights. "JHR is proud of the Indigenous Reporters Program's work to correct this imbalance, and is grateful to Ontario Trillium Foundation for its generous support of the program."
Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) is Canada's leading media development organization. Through skills training and mentorship, JHR empowers journalists to report ethically and effectively on local human rights issues that would otherwise be ignored and unaddressed. Since 2002, JHR has trained more than 18,250 journalists in over 30 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Canada. For more information about JHR, please visit the website at: www.jhr.ca.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada's leading granting foundations. Last year, nearly $112M was invested into 1,384 community projects and partnerships to build healthy and vibrant communities and strengthen the impact of Ontario's non-profit sector. In 2020/21, OTF supported Ontario's economic recovery by helping non-profit organizations rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19. Visit otf.ca to learn more.
SOURCE Journalists for Human Rights (JHR)
Media Contact: Mehreen Hasan, Media Spokeswoman, Journalists for Human Rights, 647-549-6337, [email protected]
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