Cloaked Meaning and Moral Craftwork: Progress and Perpetual Problems in the News Coverage of Indigenous Peoples and Canada's Justice System

Background: This research offers a critical analysis of the “moral craftwork” of the news media’s coverage of Canada’s Indigenous peoples and the justice system. Analysis: This study’s thematic analysis of three case studies, spanning almost two decades, suggests a potential shift in how Canadian journalists report on racism and structural inequalities. Recent news coverage points toward a more transparent dialogue about racism. Conclusions and implications: This study finds problematic journalistic practices linger, occluding a broader understanding of racism and colonialism. This research aims to expand the reflexivity of journalists by spotlighting this type of storytelling.Contexte : Cette recherche offre une analyse critique de « l’artisanat moral » relatif à la couverture du système judiciaire et des peuples autochtones au Canada par les médias d’information. Analyse : Cet article effectue l’analyse thématique de trois études de cas portant sur presque deux décennies de reportages. Il indique une transformation possible dans la manière dont les journalistes canadiens traitent du racisme et des inégalités structurelles. En effet, depuis peu, le reportage d’actualités semble appuyer un dialogue plus transparent sur le racisme. Conclusion et implications : Cette étude remarque cependant que des pratiques journalistiquesproblématiques perdurent, empêchant une meilleure compréhension du racisme et du colonialisme. En soulignant ces lacunes, cette recherche aspire à encourager la réflexivité parmi les journalistes.

“Measure of Shame”: Media Career of the Global Slavery Index

Rankings are widely regarded as particularly well-suited for capturing the public eye, which is considered a reason why they have become so ubiquitous. However, we know surprisingly little about how rankings direct media attention, as well as how media in turn shape and help sustain careers of specific rankings in the public over longer periods of time. To advance our understanding of the discursive dynamics at the intersection of rankings and the press, this study examines the media career of Global Slavery Index by analyzing 361 newspaper and magazine articles, published between the release of index’s inaugural edition in 2013 and until the end of 2019. To interpret the media coverage, the study draws attention to the distinctive properties of the Global Slavery Index, in particular its universality, highly rationalized character, and a pledge to spotlight violation of the global moral order. The longitudinal examination of the media coverage points to the following properties of the index as having shaped and helped sustain its career in the public: (1) repeated publication; (2) broad conceptualization of modern slavery; and the construction thereof as (3) a measurable global burden. These properties further allowed for (a) the construction of countries, organizations, and individuals as morally responsible for the said global burden, as well as for (b) the discursive linking of local and situational concerns with global narratives.