Our Story

NJTI was created by a group of northern media professionals dedicated to consolidating the experiences and expertise of northern and Indigenous media practitioners, with the goal of sharing and expanding that knowledge.

In 2020, a group of journalists gathered around a kitchen table to talk about the news industry in the North. The conversation was and continues to be, centered around two questions:

Where are the Northerners and Indigenous journalists in our newsrooms?

How do we get them into the industry?

Learn more about the Northern Journalism Training Initiative team

Winter 2021

Spring 2022

Spring 2023

Our strategic planning was guided by Dëneze Nahkek’o and Amos Scott of Dene Nahjo — both of whom have their own experience as journalists and filmmakers. From these two days of collective visioning for the future, we decided to pursue hands-on skills training here in the North. We believe that delivering journalism skills training to this region that has been excluded from traditional journalism education is critical to addressing the present imbalance in northern newsrooms, and a key means to help foster journalistic integrity that’s also grounded in the cultures, languages and ways of doing that are unique to northern communities.

Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) connected with our group about an opportunity to partner with them, as they were keen to see our work continue after the conclusion of their Indigenous Reporters Program in Ontario the year prior. JHR was working with the Google News Initiative (GNI) to identify shared priorities for supporting journalism initiatives in Canada, and exploring more ways of supporting Indigenous journalists and communities quickly became a focus.

NJTI delivered its pilot training program in Inuvik in the Beaufort Delta to an all-Indigenous cohort of up and coming storytellers and journalists from across the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.

Strategic Plan

Today, we are guided by a Steering Committee comprised of northern and Indigenous media professionals and are working towards delivering this training in every region in the North.

Through journalism and communications, we are working towards a new normal where Indigenous and northern people play leading roles in telling their own compelling stories, holding leaders to account, and growing wider awareness of the unique and important place of northerners in the world.

Reconciliation

Reconciliation is at the heart of why NJTI exists. We believe that by working together as Indigenous and non-Indigenous people from an authentic place, we are modelling reconciliation and helping to decolonize our own work, our profession and its institutions. We recognize that we are all at a different place in our process of understanding what decolonization means and requires. We believe that journalism is an important way to share stories and ideas that help advance understanding and action that is critical to meaningful change. We prioritize Indigenous participation in our programs and create positive mixed learning spaces where all northerners can share and grow.

Northern-Made & Journalist-Led

NJTI is a unique organization made up of professionals who are as passionate about the North as they are about journalism and storytelling. We value and prioritize northern knowledge and wisdom in everything we do, from our program curriculum and trainers to our logistical arrangements. We are community-centered in developing and delivering our programs. We are working professionals who love our craft, but also recognize that journalism and the media industry must change to survive.

Integrity

We believe journalists have the power and duty to seek truth and hold those in power to account in a way that is both courageous and ethical. As an organization, we also strive to be honest and accountable to each other, to the land, and to the public.

Open-Minded

We believe that learning is a lifelong process for each of us. We engage in our work with respect, humility and a desire to learn from each other, from experts in our field, and from the Indigenous and northern Peoples and communities we serve.

Love

We choose to embed and model a loving intention and approach in everything we do. This includes meeting people where they are at and creating positive and welcoming spaces.

GOAL# 1: To equip NJTI training participants with journalism knowledge and skills, strengthen their media literacy, and give them the confidence to use their voice and tell Indigenous and northern stories, through journalism or other platforms

GOAL# 2: To deliver effective, hands-on journalism training that is designed for, and delivered in communities across the NWT

GOAL #3: To expand the reach of NJTI programming through community partnerships and by offering complementary learning and professional development activities

GOAL #4: To influence change in the culture, policies, practices and makeup of northern media organizations leading to more Indigenous and northern people being recruited, supported and empowered to tell meaningful, impactful stories

GOAL #5: To contribute to reconciliation by answering the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two Spirit People (MMIWG2S+) related to the role and responsibilities of journalists and media organizations

GOAL #6: To be a well-known and respected organization across the north that is recognized as playing a vital role in sustaining northern media and fostering a healthy democratic society

GOAL #7: To be an effective, resilient and sustainable organization, as well as a great place to work and volunteer