Burying the Hatchet: Addressing Disproportionate Media Representations of Indigenous Missing and Murdered Peoples

Television and newspapers possess a strong influence not only on the public perception of Indigenous marginalization, but also on the bi-directional relationship that the government possesses regarding policies that address the causes of inequity, racism, and the stereotyping of Indigenous groups in Canada. The foundations of oppressive action are established via the creation of social hierarchies that seek to label marginalized populations such as Indigenous peoples as “others.” The othering of Indigenous groups in Canada has been shown to lead to the perpetuation of structuralized racism and discrimination as an extension of underlying settler-colonialist ideologies. The concept of media framing is used in this article to interpret representations of Indigenous peoples on the national stage. Here, we explore the media’s justification when it makes decisions about the content of its news stories, and how Indigenous peoples involved in these reports have been presented to the public. These constructions have negatively skewed the perception of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples as they ignore or minimize Indigenous male victimization. This has led to their devaluation within mainstream media discourses. As members of families, men and boys play a pivotal role in the maintenance of family structures, and thus, investigating the causes for missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys (MMIMB) will offer greater insight into not only the framing of Indigenous issues in mainstream media but also into the ever-increasing incidence of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG).

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