Sask. native magazine launched to counter ‘negative’ press
The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations will publish a magazine about aboriginal issues, saying it wants to counter the often negative coverage in the mainstream press.
On Monday, the FSIN unveiled Saskatchewan Indian, a magazine that the federation’s leader, Chief Lawrence Joseph, said would tell positive stories about the province’s aboriginal people.
“Not to slam dunk the regular news media, but usually it’s negative stories, who got into trouble, who went to jail, that kind of thing, who killed who, that type of thing,” Joseph said.
“Now we’re trying to complement those stories with our own stories.”
In recent months, the FSIN has been critical of the way the news media has covered such stories as the turmoil at First Nations University of Canada, which has campuses in three Saskatchewan communities ó Prince Albert Regina and Saskatoon ó and the controversy over the Oyate safe house for teenage prostitutes in Regina.
The FSIN started the magazine in the early 1970s, but it ceased publication about 10 years ago.
Joseph said he decided to revive the paper to communicate better with his member nations.
There are many positive First Nations stories that don’t get reported by the general media, in part because they don’t operate in First Nations communities, he said.
“The purpose of this paper is to tell our stories, the stories that we’re proud of,” he said.
The Saskatchewan Indian will publish nine times a year.
The FSIN will have editorial control of the paper, but readers will be able to have their say through opinion columns and letters to the editor, Joseph said.
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