The 黑料吃瓜网 Journalism Training Initiative (NJTI) wrapped up its second cohort training in late March. With guest visits from Julie Beaver, Marie Wilson Kakfwi, Ollie Williams and Jonathan Antoine, the small cohort of participants spent four weeks in Hay River learning the principles of contemporary journalism. Trainers Charlotte Morritt-Jacobs, Katlia Lafferty, and executive director Kaila Jefferd Moore reflected on the activities afterwards. 

Morritt-Jacobs: The experience has been extremely gratifying 鈥� seeing community-minded creative minds blossom into journalists who really want to do good by their community, and represent the underdog, represent issues they care about, represent themes that are underrepresented in media. And what's taken me by surprise was that I knew that everyone would be on the same page for ethics in explaining principles of interviewing vulnerable communities, and trauma-informed reporting. But the participants have taken it one step farther and I have learned how they operate and learn and exist in community as well, so, there is no fear of repeating past wrongs from mainstream media. I feel very confidant in the participants on how they're best positioned to tell stories that are harder hitting to communities, and they are going to do an excellent job in a sensitive way. 

Lafferty: It鈥檚 been interesting because we鈥檙e not just talking about journalism, we鈥檙e talking about storytelling, and we have a really small group of both Indigenous and non-indigenous mostly women, who have shared their personal journeys. We have sharing circles, where we really have come together and bonded over the last four weeks. And there is so much respect in the group, for one another, and all we鈥檝e been hearing is how empowered they feel to go out and make change through telling stories.

It鈥檚 been really incredible to watch how they went from essentially knowing nothing about journalism, to now... having the tools they need to go out there and the confidence that they need to go out there and tell good stories, and incorporate that diverse voice of the North, and that honours it. And that tells it in a way what's been done before, and what hasn鈥檛 been done right in the past 鈥� so, incorporating languages, capitalizing the word 鈥淓lder,鈥� all of those little intricacies we鈥檝e gone over and over in the last four weeks and it's been nothing but open-minded conversations around a circle.

And it is an unorthodox approach, we are talking about ethics, but at the same time we are also talking about how the North is really unique and that we need to have journalists working in the North who are aware of that uniqueness and who are willing to do the work of making long-lasting relationships with people they are talking to and their storytellers.

Jefferd Moore: I feel very proud of the work that NJTI is achieving and I feel, in the first cohort, it was just three staff and we were really just flying by the seat of our pants, and maybe for our trainers it still feels like that, but surprisingly enough we have really grown and developed this program. Originally, I wasn鈥檛 down here. I came down here for the first few days, introduced myself to the cohort and then I was like, 鈥淥K, this is you two 鈥� I trust them fully to have guided the participants through the last four weeks. But I have been down for the last two weeks and I鈥檝e been able to observe the participants and observe how concepts have landed for them. And yeah, I feel, at the end of it, very proud of how this program has grown and I鈥檓 excited to push the program further 鈥� continue to grow it, continue to make it more responsive to that we鈥檙e working with. 

The cohort shared a closing ceremony with community members, and distinguished guests on March 27. Hopes for the future of NJTI include an extended alumni network and the continued development of programming and curriculum to be run in communities across Denendeh.