2021 Spry Memorial Lecture | Changing the Spectrum: Race, Media, and Building Democracy in Canada
The Spry Memorial Lecture has a long history of tackling key issues facing Canadian media and its role in the national conversation. For the 2021 event, Spry joined with Media Democracy Days and the Digital Democracies Institute, with support from SFU Public Square, to bring together leading figures in Canadian media in conversation about race, media and building democracy in Canada.
Our panelists Desmond Cole and Tanya Talaga, along with moderator Candis Callison, considered recent attention over the escalation of commentary on the representation of Indigenous, Black, and people of colour; the structural challenges that impede calls for greater diversity; and discussed how institutions and platforms can foster a more constructive dialogue. At a time when violent events internationally, nationally, and locally are making headlines on a frequent basis, the urgency of this panel was incontestable.
Online Event
Part of Towards Equity
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified inequities and exposed the deficiencies of our institutions. It has confirmed we must enact change and signaled that transformation is possible. What must we understand –and do– to recover equitably and reimagine our systems to confront the intersecting crises of inequality, systemic racism and climate change?
Towards Equity, SFU Public Square’s 2021 Community Summit Series will take place online throughout the year and will bring the university into conversation with local and global communities. Join us to learn and take action together towards a more just, equitable and sustainable future.
On this Page
Speakers
Desmond Cole
Desmond Cole is a Canadian activist, journalist, broadcaster, and best-selling author. He was awarded the 2020 Toronto Book Award for his book The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power. Publications he has written for include The Toronto Star, NOW magazine, and The Tyee. Desmond's activism on issues such as racial profiling, police carding, and systemic racism earned him the 2017 PEN Canada/Ken Filkow Prize for freedom of expression. CBC television released the documentary The Skin We're In based on Cole's 2015 award-winning essay of the same name.
Tanya Talaga
Tanya Talaga is an Ojibwe award-winning journalist and author, producer, director, and speaker. She has earned multiple awards for her book Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City including the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. Tanya has worked for publications such as The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail, and has been nominated five times for the Michener Award in public service journalism. She is also President and CEO of Makwa Creative, a production company amplifying Indigenous stories.
Moderator
Candis Callison
Candis Callison is a Tahltan environmental journalist, author, and associate professor at UBC in the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media, and in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies. She co-wrote Reckoning: Journalism’s Limits and Possibilities after doing five years of research with journalists from various news organizations in Canada and the U.S.
Candis was a 2019 inductee to the The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is also a member of the Advisory Circle for The Indigenous Screen Office.
Emcee
Adel Iskandar
Adel Iskandar is an Assistant Professor of Global Communication at SFU, whose work deals with media, identity and politics. He is the author, co-author, and editor of "Egypt In Flux: Essays on an Unfinished Revolution" (AUCP/OUP); "Al-Jazeera: The Story of the Network that is Rattling Governments and Redefining Modern Journalism" (Basic Books); "Edward Said: A Legacy of Emancipation and Representation" (University of California Press); "Mediating the Arab Uprisings" (Tadween Publishing); and "Media Evolution on the Eve of the Arab Spring" (Palgrave Macmillan).
Event Recording
Delving deeper into Canadian media and race with Candis Callison from UBC's journalism school — CBC's All Points West (April 22, 2021)
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The 2021 Spry Memorial Lecture
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