Tracing the Trajectory: A Literature Review on Racism in Canadian Journalism

Abstract

Racial inequities and the lack of racial representation within Canada's journalism industry are persistent. Existing literature on the underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous or a person of colour (BIPOC) journalists in workplaces and journalism students in academia points to the need for research on the lived experiences BIPOC individuals endure in both journalism education and Canadian newsrooms. In journalism education and practice alike, BIPOC individuals brave issues of microaggressions, institutional racism and pigeonholing (Zoledziowski, 2018). The research completed for this project recounts multiple experiences of racism that journalists face in the journalism industry and shows similarities and differences in the experiences of BIPOC individuals in practice and education. Many established reporters start their careers by enrolling in journalism schools. BIPOC students face challenges of systemic racism in post-secondary education and, in addition, largely do not see their experiences and perspectives reflected in the overall curriculum. Diversity training is not widely prevalent in Canadian journalism schools and curricula is largely taught through colonial and Eurocentric lenses (Todorova, 2016). BIPOC students who have multifaceted identities, including gender, ethnicity, religion, or ability, may face additional discrimination in journalism education, in addition to microaggressions due to their race. There is also little research on the lack of BIPOC students in journalism education and a lack of official statistics on the number of BIPOC students in Canadian journalism programs. Using a scoping review of existing literature, this Major Research Paper discusses racism in the Canadian journalism landscape and identifies future explorations in BIPOC Canadian journalism research, especially focusing on BIPOC students in journalism education. This MRP may also serve as a stepping-stone for areas of future research regarding student journalists in post-secondary journalism education.