Aphrodite Salas

Abstract

This submission consists of two components: a 19-minute documentary film, ᑰᒃ ᑰᑦᑐᖅ The Flowing River, and an essay situating the work within engagement journalism theory and practice. The documentary centres the voices and perspectives of Inuit climate leaders in Inukjuak, Nunavik, who have spent more than two decades transitioning their community from diesel dependence to clean renewable energy. Through a run-of-river hydro project recognized as an international success, the community now sources most of its heat and light from renewable energy. All narration is delivered in Inukjuamiutitut with English subtitles, and the music is all originally composed by Indigenous artists. The film was produced collaboratively with a team of community members from Inukjuak, including a translator, a voiceover artist, photographers and a videographer, alongside a team from Concordia University. The documentary premiered in the community at the local high school in December 2025 before any external screening or distribution. The accompanying essay explores the methodology and ethics behind this journalism, examining what it means to practice “view from somewhere” journalism from a settler perspective in Indigenous communities. Drawing on scholarship by Duncan McCue, Lewis Raven Wallace, Candis Callison, Mary Lynn Young, Kim TallBear and others, the essay challenges conventional Western journalism ideals of objectivity and detachment, arguing instead for an engagement approach grounded in reciprocity, trust, and meaningful relationships. Developed over seven years of collaborative work with Inuit partners, this journalism situates itself within the framework of Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action 86. The essay navigates the tension between traditional journalistic principles and engagement journalism, examining questions of proximity and ethics while demonstrating how reciprocal relationships can become a form of specialized knowledge rather than compromised bias.

Keywords: Reciprocity, positionality, ethics, objectivity, reconciliation, engagement journalism, constructive journalism, solutions journalism, decolonizing journalism

Résumé

Notre proposition d’article se décline en deux volets : un documentaire de 19 minutes intitulé ᑰᒃ ᑰᑦᑐᖅ Au fil de l’eau, et un essai qui situe le reportage dans la théorie et la pratique du journalisme d’engagement. Le documentaire s’articule autour de la voix et des perspectives de leaders climatiques inuits à Inukjuak, au Nunavik, qui ont consacré plus de vingt ans pour briser la dépendance de leur communauté au diésel et y introduire une source d’énergie propre. Grâce à un projet hydroélectrique au fil de l’eau considéré comme une réussite à l’international, la communauté tire maintenant la majorité de son énergie d’une source renouvelable pour ses besoins en électricité et en chauffage. La narration se fait en inukjuamiutitut et est accompagnée de sous-titres, et la musique provient d’œuvres composées par des artistes autochtones. Le film a été produit en collaboration avec une équipe de la communauté d’Inukjuak, composée entre autres d’une traductrice, d’un acteur vocal, de photographes et de vidéastes, aux côtés d’une équipe de l’Université Concordia. La première projection du documentaire s’est produite dans la communauté, à l’école secondaire du village en décembre 2025, avant toute autre diffusion ou distribution. L’essai d’accompagnement explore la méthodologie et les considérations éthiques derrière ce type de journalisme et s’intéresse à ce que représentent la production, par la perspective du colonisateur, de reportages du type « point de vue de quelque part » au sein de communautés autochtones. S’appuyant sur les travaux universitaires de Duncan McCue, de Lewis Raven Wallace, de Candis Callison, de Mary Lynn Young, de Kim TallBear et d’autres, l’essai remet en question les idéaux conventionnels et occidentaux de l’objectivité et du détachement et prône plutôt une approche d’engagement fondée sur la réciprocité, la confiance et des relations authentiques. Mené au fil de sept années de collaboration avec des partenaires inuits, le documentaire s’inscrit dans le cadre de l’Appel à l’action no 86 de la Commission de vérité et réconciliation. L’essai explore la tension entre les principes journalistiques traditionnels et ceux du journalisme d’engagement, et s’intéresse aux questions de la proximité et de l’éthique pour démontrer que les relations réciproques peuvent donner lieu à des connaissances spécialisées plutôt qu’à des biais.

Mots-clés : Réciprocité, positionnalité, éthique, objectivité, réconciliation, journalisme d’engagement, journalisme constructif, journalisme de solution, décolonisation du journalisme

WORK OF JOURNALISM | ŒUVRES DE JOURNALISTE

A view from Inukjuak: Engagement journalism with Indigenous partners

ᑰᒃ ᑰᑦᑐᖅ The Flowing River (Documentary)

Aphrodite Salas

In a rapidly changing and polarized world, the question of how to practice ethical journalism has become increasingly complex. Notably, the concept of objectivity in the Western tradition has been challenged by theories of “trust-building, identity and care” that encourage journalists to acknowledge their own identities, privileges and biases for more engaged coverage (Robinson, 2023, p. 91). When these approaches are discussed, especially within the context of reporting in marginalized and underreported communities, the conversation is often laced with tension between traditionalists who think journalists must always remain impartial and detached, and others who believe it is possible to do journalism while situating themselves as allies (Patching & Hirst, 2022; Munno & Craig, 2020). On the former, Tuck and Yang (2012) describe “settler moves to innocence” as ways settlers distance themselves from colonial harms without giving up power; a parallel can be drawn here to the appeals of traditionalists to neutral objectivity (p.10). Additionally, Usher (2019) calls this pattern “defensive professionalism” where time-honoured norms in the field make it difficult for industry leaders to recognize or even adapt to change (p. 142). Against this backdrop, Wallace (2019) outlines a broader application of ally-informed reporting in A View from Somewhere, exploring “how journalists can resist the objectifying, extractive model of journalism, while holding to our role as purveyors of truth in the world” (p. 205).

ᑰᒃ ᑰᑦᑐᖅ The Flowing River, a 19-minute documentary, explores both the run-of-river hydro project that now powers the village of Inukjuak in Nunavik, and the relational flow of journalism that emerges from reciprocity with Inuit climate leaders. For more than two decades, these leaders have worked to transition their community from diesel dependence to clean renewable energy, in a context where Inuit are disproportionately impacted by Arctic climate change and their “right to be cold” is increasingly threatened (Watt-Cloutier, 2015). The film shares their story through their own language, voices and perspectives. This essay situates the documentary within journalism theory and ethics to demonstrate how an engagement approach can challenge long-standing concepts of objectivity, from the 20th century norm that journalists should report “only the facts” (Schudson, 2001), to later views of objectivity as a process of verification rather a claim that a reporter is fundamentally neutral (Kovach & Rosenstiel, 2021). McCue’s (2023) work on decolonizing journalism shows how negative, stereotypical reporting about Indigenous communities has eroded trust in journalism, but it also offers a practical roadmap centred on relationship-building and reciprocity (p. 13), principles this essay examines through an engagement-driven approach to documentary work.

Finally, this essay shows that such engagement can foster meaningful, long-term partnerships with Indigenous communities grounded in TRC Call to Action 86, which urges journalism programs and media schools to require education on the history and contemporary realities of Indigenous peoples in the land known as Canada (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015).

As a professor of journalism with a previous 20-year career in broadcast news, my academic work explores what it means to practice view-from-somewhere journalism from a settler perspective in collaboration with Indigenous communities. This includes, but is not limited to, planning out stories, discussing drafts, and organizing community screenings with Indigenous partners. I have grappled with what all this means in relation to objectivity, and that initially brought me to a place of great discomfort, as a journalist trained in the Western tradition where neutrality is paramount and sources are kept at arm’s length (Woolley & Fishbach, 2022).

ᑰᒃ ᑰᑦᑐᖅ The Flowing River is the result of strong, reciprocal relationships between myself, undergraduate and graduate student teams, and Inuit partners in Inukjuak since 2019. It is our third documentary and part of our second multimedia project to be published in partnership with CTV Montreal. We have screened our previous work at major UN Climate conferences, public events and academic conferences worldwide, and we have launched the Climate Leadership Story Hub that showcases all our collaborative projects created over the past several years (Climate Leadership Story Hub, 2026). Participatory action research (PAR), which aims to democratize understanding by challenging power dynamics and creating meaningful encounters between participants (Greenwood & Levin, 2007; Valentine, 2008), framed each project. It was also integrated as a pedagogical approach, with small teams of students and community members actively engaged throughout (Dancis et al., 2023; Duea et al., 2022). Ultimately, this journalism shows how adopting a “view from somewhere” approach in settler journalism can challenge conventional ideals of journalistic objectivity, avoid extractive professional practices and allow for more meaningful, ethical relations with Indigenous partners that are based on principles of reciprocity and trust.

The ‘view from somewhere’

Callison and Young (2020) write about “situated, systems journalism” as an approach through which journalists reclaim objectivity and use it as a strength, turning the view-from-somewhere from a frowned-upon bias into a form of specialized knowledge (p. 212). Drawing upon the foundational writings of Haraway, Harding, and TallBear, Callison and Young argue that knowledge production is never neutral, and that systems of Eurocentric inquiry privilege certain voices while marginalizing others. TallBear’s (2014) assertion that feminist objectivity “helps open up one’s mind to working in non-standard ways,” which can then lead one to “new and surprising places” has been emblematic of my own experience while building and sustaining relationships with Indigenous partners (p. 6). Instead of seeing my friends in Inukjauk as sources, I have come to understand they are partners and colleagues, which in and of itself is a “new and surprising place” for a journalist to be, and flies in the face of traditional reporting (TallBear, 2014, p.6).

This shift can be considered problematic since the core principle of reporters maintaining independence from those they cover is enshrined in Western principles of journalism (Kovach & Rosenstiel, 2021, p. xxvi; Shapiro, 2010, p. 146). In Canada, this detachment has been a longstanding ethical guideline (CAJ Ethics Guidelines, 2023). Yet negotiating relationships is arguably the crux of all journalism, making this issue a subject of ongoing investigation. In a 2014 study by the Canadian Association of Journalists called How Close is Too Close? direction was provided to reporters looking to clarify potentially conflicted relationships. Some of the questions include: “Has the source given or promised any kind of reward or favour in return for the journalist’s choices, or is one expected?” (p. 4); “Where is the journalist’s primary loyalty?” (p. 4); “How close and how current is the relationship?” (p. 5); “What would the public think?” (p. 5); and, “Is there any other reason to think the journalist’s judgment may be impaired by the relationship?” (CAJ, 2014). The updated 2023 Ethics Guidelines no longer use this language but fold the same issues into wider expectations around recognizing and managing bias, conflict of interest, and protecting accuracy and fairness (CAJ Ethics Guidelines, 2023). Reflecting on these types of questions and concerns has given me some assurance that I am not “too close” to my Indigenous partners, yet as time has gone on, the lines have become blurred. Rather than seeing this as a dilemma, I have chosen to lean into these relationships, informed by critical reflexive practice placing reciprocity as a core value of my reporting projects (Mason, 2023). These relationships are reshaping both my work and my understanding of objectivity. Theoretically, Ward’s (2015) notion of pragmatic objectivity is helpful to note, where objectivity is viewed in relation to transparent, accountable methods for weighing facts rather than as a personal trait. At the same time, Schmidt (2024) shows the importance of positionality and lived experience, and how turning a blind eye to these realities can make it harder to name racism, inequity and harm. As a non-Indigenous, non-racialized journalist and academic, I draw on these critiques to regularly question my own assumptions and the unequal conditions shaping the stories I have permission to share. In practice, this means working collaboratively with partners, sharing drafts and cuts for feedback, and being transparent about how their input contributes to final stories.

Process and practice

This journalism centres the voices of Indigenous collaborators and partners. The voiceover in the film is in Inukjuamiutitut (the Inuktitut dialect spoken in Inukjuak) with two subtitle versions, in English and French. A team of Inuit collaborators living in Inukjuak was hired to help produce the documentary, including a translator, a voiceover artist, two photographer/videographers, and a driver for transportation on-site. Care was taken to ensure that community members were the first to see the finished work. The premiere was held in the community at Uquutaq, the local high school, on December 4, 2025, with all students, teachers, and collaborators invited. We presented the film alongside local Inuit climate leaders and community members, discussed the hydro project and the engaged journalism approach, and reiterated that our team does not consider ourselves extractive storytellers; rather, we share stories with permission. Related research was undertaken with approval from the Concordia University Human Research Ethics Committee (Certificate #30011198).

Inukjuak 2024

ᑰᒃ ᑰᑦᑐᖅ The Flowing River was shot in Inukjuak in October 2024 with a small team including myself, one graduate student and a former student-turned-CTV journalist who was hired as a research associate. We were there to cover the completion of Inukjuak’s run-of-river hydro project, which has been recognized widely for its innovation and impact. Since the commissioning, the community has gone from using diesel fuel for all its heating and power to using more than 80% renewable energy.

After several days of recording interviews and visuals from morning to night, we were invited to a party on the tundra. Eric Atagotaaluk, one of our collaborators, had invited all those involved in the project, and those featured in our journalism and documentaries, to his cabin on the land. To get there, we followed our friend and collaborator Sarah Lisa Kasudluak along a rocky and winding road that traced the shore of Hudson’s Bay before turning inland. After about 45 minutes we arrived, and within an hour, dozens of people piled in. It felt like a family party—shoes off at the door, everyone settling in on couches and chairs around tables laden with country food, including boiled beluga intestine and caribou fat.

At one point, Eric made a speech in Inuktitut, with Sarah Lisa speaking as well. We were the only non-Inuit in the room. I listened and nodded, not understanding a thing—until I heard my name. When they stopped talking, I asked, “What did you just say?” Sarah Lisa replied, “I’m glad that you came here to experience what we go through as a community… it’s respect you know, a mutual respect that happens. If we don’t respect each other, it would never happen, we need that relationship. For us to spend time with each other, eat together, celebrate with each other, that’s what we need, we need human-to-human interaction.”

In that moment, I understood what it meant for me to be “a voice from somewhere.” Dr. Marie Wilson, one of three TRC commissioners and the only non-Indigenous commissioner, offers important context for such relational journalism. Her writings explore the complex nature of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada, emphasizing how genuine, meaningful connections can alleviate difficulties that will inevitably surface along the way. As she states, “we cannot reconcile with strangers” (Drudi, 2024, para. 16). Mutual respect, forged over seven years and culminating around Eric’s tundra table, was captured in ᑰᒃ ᑰᑦᑐᖅ The Flowing River—demonstrating that engagement is an important foundation of reconciliation, and can be for journalism too.

Aphrodite Salas is a journalist and professor at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. She specializes in constructive climate reporting with Indigenous partners. Her research focuses on transforming journalism practices to be more collaborative and less extractive, with an emphasis on decolonization. Aphrodite is also on the management team of Voltage, a $123-million research program at Concordia on the electrification of society.

Acknowledgment

ᑰᒃ ᑰᑦᑐᖅ ᐃᓄᒃᔪᐊᒥᐅ ᓄᑦ: ᓇᑯᕐᒦᕈᑎᖃᕐᐳᒍᑦ ᐃᓚᓐᓈᓕᐅᕈᓐᓇᓂᑦᓯᓂᒃ, ᓯᓚᑐᓂᑦᓯᓂᒃ, ᑲᒪᑦᓯᐊᓂᐊᓗᑦᓯᓂᓪᓗ – ᐃᕐᕐᑫᑎᑕᐅᒋᐊᓪᓚᑲᑦᑕᓗ

To my partners in Inukjuak, thank you for your friendship, wisdom and grace, and for reminding us that together we are always stronger.

Disclaimer
AI was used in the formatting of some of the citations.

ᑰᒃ ᑰᑦᑐᖅ Au fil de l’eau, un documentaire de 19 minutes, s’articule autour de la voix et des perspectives de leaders climatiques inuits à Inukjuak, au Nunavik, qui ont consacré plus de vingt ans pour briser la dépendance de leur communauté au diésel et y introduire une source d’énergie propre.