This 3-year partnership will support Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communication to develop and launch the Journalism in Indigenous Communities Certificate (JIICC).
Created and led by nationally acclaimed Indigenous journalist Duncan McCue, this certificate aims to reach Indigenous learners in northern / remote regions, which are currently vastly underrepresented in the field of journalism and communication. Built alongside Indigenous Institutions who will partner and collaborate in delivery, the program will create both remote learning and in place intensives within different Indigenous communities.
In addition, the program creates a pathway to both further education beyond the certificate as well as vital skill building for employment. There will be opportunity for students upon completion to bridge their certificate courses into further degree programs, including advanced standing directly into the second year of the Journalism Degree program at Carleton University. This will be the first Indigenous Journalism program to offer learning remotely and in community as well as be delivered by Indigenous faculty all with direct experience as journalists and communicators.
This project supports the JIICC in its initial 3 years. The first year is focused on development and recruitment for the program to start in year 2, September 2025.
• Creating a braided learning model consisting of remote learning paired with 3 in-person intensives hosted in different Indigenous communities across Ontario.
• Recruitment and retention of 25 Indigenous learners per year to participate in the program.
• Hiring and staffing of Indigenous journalists, program coordinators, and cultural advisors to provide teaching, guidance, and mentorship throughout the certificate.
• Having JIICC specific skill building, offering a suite of Carelton University certified micro-credentials useful to the field of journalism. These include but are not limited to: fundamental skills of reporting, writing for media, audio storytelling, visual storytelling, and entrepreneurial journalism.
• Building confidence in Indigenous learners to bring their whole selves to their role, with opportunity to bring this to life in a two-week in-person internship in a Canadian newsroom upon certificate completion.
• Creating a website that hosts knowledge dissemination and sharing amongst Indigenous journalists and those looking at entering the field.
