Social movement media

Grand Chief Ed John is the author of a seminal report on Indigenous child welfare in BC published in 2016. The report begins with and expands on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's recommendations and makes them relevant to child welfare issues in BC. The report, along with the TRC recommendations, has provided a necessary roadmap for Indigenous child welfare change in BC. It is a great example of a Communication for Development and Social Change (CDSC) strategy, meant to influence power, decisions, and social change in political environments as well as communities (Wilkins, 2014). 

John was the keynote speaker at a fundraising gala I recently attended. Before he spoke he showed a video made by and featuring youth of Tachie of the Tl'azt'en Nation, his home nation. Why Me? is a powerful visual message that hopes to illuminate and destroy misconceptions about the youth of Tl'azt'en Nation. This example of citizens' media shows how small, local media projects by ordinary community members can have broader impact (Wilkins, 2014).


For CDSC strategies to be effective they need some combination of the robust, long-form, participatory types of research projects like the Ed John report combined with the visual, emotional impact of a citizen-led, 'nano-media' project like Why Me? (Wilkins, 2014). These combinations of (mostly) small and large social movement media are the necessary elements of creating layered and systemic change (2014). Downing (2014) confirms, "[W]e have to acknowledge macro-media ­and nano-media as symbiotic, imbricated worlds, not as an absolute, mutually repelling binary" (2014, p.333).



Reference: Hamelink, Cees J. (2014). Chapter 5: Equality and human rights. In K.G. Wilkins, T. Tufte & R. Obregon (Eds.),  Handbook of Development Communication and Social Change (pp.72-91).