5. Go beyond diversity to invest in communities
Diversity in the media is only one aspect of true Visibilización Indígena (Indigenous media presence). Support Indigenous Peoples’ control over territory, technology and economic production.
Through fair commissioning – directly support the acquisition of new technology for Indigenous communities, as well as technical provision, skills training, knowledge exchange, capacity building and fair remuneration.
Linguistic, ethnic, gender and racial diversity are vital so that content producers and distributors can help disrupt stubborn inequalities within the global media economy, thus helping make content more inclusive. Indigenous media presence is an exercise in the recognition of diverse customs, traditions, beliefs and practices not only at the individual level but also as part of a collective.
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Tawna: Film from the Territories’ is an Indigenous film collective from the Ecuadorian Amazon who make films and carry out film trainings in local communities.
It is important to make strategic alliances with Amazonian filmmakers and awaken new creators and artists, people who are growing, so that there are more voices from the rainforest."
Yanda Montahuano, Filmmaker and Founder of Tawna, Sapara people, Ecuador
Midia India are an Indigenous news platform founded in 2015 by Guajajara communicators which has since grown into a national platform. They have over 100 Indigenous collaborators sending news in from across Brazil.
A retrospective of Midia India’s work, charting their trajectory from the coverage of Sonia Guajajara’s presidential campaign to international climate summits.
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“Our struggle has no place in the hegemonic press and for years we have fought for a space that today does not represent even 1% within the newsrooms. It is through social networks that we are changing this story.”
Mídia Índia [translation of Instagram post]
I perceive that there is a greater demand for this type of photography [related to Indigenous struggles], but I also believe that it comes from our own presence in social networks, our presence as Indigenous people. ”
Edgar Kanaykõ, Ethnophotographer and Anthropologist, Xakriabá people, Brazil
But impartiality, I think, has served as an excuse to turn a blind eye, to continue perpetuating narratives, language that continues to make [communities] more vulnerable rather than transforming [them]. So the narratives - especially the one that is emerging a lot at the moment, and which I am part of - are the narratives or the journalism of solutions. So journalism also has to transform that way of operating. Not to arrive, be seen, get all the information and then leave them. I think we should also be part of the solutions for these communities. Of course, we as journalists are not NGOs - we don't have a lot of money to be able to collaborate. And yes, we also have to be very careful when it comes to collaborating with something, because any kind of remuneration or contribution can always generate conflicts and interests, more than for them, for us. But why not give them tools so that they help themselves, tools that they themselves need, that they themselves say this is what we need?”
Sara Aliaga Ticona, photojournalist, Aymara people, Bolivia
Report chapters related to this principle
What are the risks and challenges of producing climate imagery within Indigenous Territories?
Climate imagery and media research
Toward a value-based approach
Audiovisual extractivism
Guaranteeing fair remuneration for Indigenous Peoples
Rise of the Indigenous public sphere
The visual divide in Latin America
The role of independent media
Download the full report
Download the full report
This report provides the foundation for this web-based resource. Commissioned by Climate Visuals and produced by Nicolas Salazar Sutil with picture research by Jaye Renold, it includes conversations with Indigenous leaders and photographers, media stakeholders and NGOs in 10 countries.
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