Born and raised in Yellowknife, Garrett Hinchey is a Métis journalist currently serving as CBC North’s managing editor, and part of the fifth cohort of Jane Glassco Northern Fellows.

Garrett’s policy research paper, Reclaiming Our Narrative: A Roadmap to Local Participation in N.W.T. Media, addresses the underrepresentation of local, particularly Indigenous, journalists in N.W.T newsrooms.

Read the paper as an accessible online flipbook or download it as a pdf.

Reclaiming Our Narrative: A Roadmap to Local Participation in N.W.T. Media draws on extensive interviews with N.W.T. media leaders and highlights the significant barriers locals face to entering the industry, including perceptions that a journalism career isn’t a realistic option.  

This underrepresentation has serious consequences – including stunting leadership development, undermining Northerners’ ability to control their own stories, and impacting the very foundations of democracy in N.W.T.  

The research paper provides three policy recommendations to drive change:

• Adding a communications or journalism studies diploma to Aurora College
• Integrating communications and media studies into the high school curriculum
• Setting hiring targets

The research is particularly timely, given the upcoming transformation of Aurora College into a university and N.W.T.’s adoption of the BC school curriculum in place of Alberta’s.

Jane Glassco Northern Fellows receive policy skills training, mentorship, and networking opportunities as they undertake individual public policy research.