Inuvik will soon host a new journalism training initiative.
Taking applications until March 3, the Northern Journalism Training Initiative seeks to provide Northerners and Indigenous young adults with training to build storytelling and multimedia skills, develop an understanding of the journalism and communications industries, and even get paid work experience. Funded through a partnership between Journalists for Human rights and Google News Initiative, the program runs from March 27 to April 21.
“Our group started meeting back in 2020, with the idea to talk about how to get Indigenous people back into Northern newsrooms,” said program lead Kaila Jefferd-Moore. “We all remembered a time when Indigenous Northerners were all over the airwaves, and operations managing community news stations and newsletters.
“Our advisory circle member Sara Minogue had done a survey of newsrooms in Yellowknife specifically, and heard from all of them they want to hire Northern and Indigenous people, but they don’t have the in-house capacity and resources to train people from scratch, or to hire them. So we’re really hoping that we act as a sort of bridge for locals to access this career option if they want to.”
To qualify for the four-week, hands-on training, applicants must be 18 years or older and reside in the Northwest Territories. Applicants must also be able to commit to the complete program and cover their own living expenses, though the program itself is free.
Aside from in-class training, students will be expected to travel through Inuvik and the Beaufort Delta to find stories and build their portfolio. Training will be provided by seasoned journalists and communications professionals Dëneze Nakehk’o and Laurie Sarkadi.
Jefferd-Moore said students could find work through the program in a number of ways.
“We’ve been in contact with local newsrooms and they’re all interested in hiring and working with local journalists in the ways that make the most sense,” she said. “So this could be supporting participants through the normal job search and application process for an entry-level reporting position, or it could look like being on a list of known local ‘ringers’ for newsrooms to reach out to when they have a story that they want to be told but don’t have reporters in the community. It could also look like supporting participants to pursue freelance opportunities. It’s really about the level of interest of the individual and the best match with the best newsroom or media organization.
”Inuvik was decided on because not only does it have a handful of local resources and talent to draw on – CBC, NNSL, and ICS all operate in the region – it’s also a really interesting spot geopolitically. With overlapping land claims, being the central hub for the delta, and a long history of news history and politics — from COPE to climate change, and the times of the Peel River Press and Native Press to today — there is a lot to explore regionally.
“With enough community and financial support, we hope this isn’t the first and last time we run this training, and it goes to other communities and regions next.”
Visit https://www.njti.ca/apply to submit an application.