Waubgeshig Rice to Discuss Challenges, Media Landscape during Fireside Chat
Waubgeshig Rice will bring his experience growing up on Wasauksing First Nation and how that helped forge his over two-decade career as a journalist and author when he takes part in the College’s Taking a Stand – Disrupting Black and Indigenous Racism Week Feb. 1-5)
Rice will sit down on February 4 with Julie McCann, Coordinator of the journalism program at Algonquin, for a virtual Fireside Chat that will discuss how culture and one’s personal journey is intrinsically tied to creative writing and journalism.
“It will be an opportunity talk about how lived experience can shape someone’s career if they come from a marginalized community. When you are coming into realms like media and literature, there really is a dominant voice that controls everything and really sets the agenda for everything that Canadians discuss,” said Rice.
“There is some hard work there to get your own voice or experience out there, but if you are a journalist especially, to really relay the stories of people living in Indigenous communities. There is a general lack of awareness amongst Canadians about the true history of this country and what the realities of Indigenous life are like. That education means making your own colleagues aware, making your peers aware before you actually even do your job.”
After graduating from Ryerson in 2002, Rice worked as a freelancer, joined the Weather Network and then moved to the CBC, where he spent 14 years as a reporter. He is now primarily focused on writing the follow-up to his novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, and occasionally writes Op-Eds, speaks on virtual panels and offers media commentary.
During his career, Rice has witnessed the racism that exists in the industry, and he knows how important mentorship can be for young writers and journalists trying to start their careers.
“It (racism) is still a wide-spread issue, but it is not really visible or tangible. The people who are of the dominant culture in media don’t realize the impact of it, how they perpetuate it. That’s not to say everybody in the industry is bad. They are not. They just don’t realize how systemic racism is upheld by everyday actions,” he said.
“My biggest frustration was seeing young journalists leave the industry because of that systemic racism. When you come from a so-called marginalized background into a newsroom, you carry the weight of all the history and all those issues. These are things you take home with you every day. If you are from a so-called dominant mainstream background, you don’t have to worry about those things as much.”
The isolation that young journalists and writers feel when starting out can be overwhelming and doing events like the Fireside Chat are part of Rice reaching out with mentorship and sound advice.
“If you come into a newsroom, and you are the only one, or one of very few from your background, that mentorship is very important. It is important for career survival,” said Rice. “If you don’t have somebody to help make those connections, somebody to lean on, then you may not last in the industry. Even though I am not in the industry anymore, I always made the effort to reach out to younger journalists and let them know that I was there for them, even if we were not in the same newsroom.”
With the emergence of Black Lives Matter and the global call to action that has erupted in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, Rice has seen media making more effort to tell the important stories about Indigenous realities in a respectful way that can bridge divides between communities.
“There is more of an appetite among mainstream media and audiences to do longer form stories, because there is an appetite to learn. I have been delighted to see opportunities to break the mold and do these value-added, contextual stories,” he said.
How to Register
Algonquin College students and employees will receive an email in January with links to register for the events. You can also email diversity@algonquincollege.com to receive an events calendar with registration links, in case you would like to highlight this calendar (or any particular events) to your learners, coworkers, staff, faculty, or grads.
Please use your Algonquin College email @algonquincollege.com or algonquinlive.com when registering for events.