NB Media Co-op presents:
Elsipogtog & the Media: a conversation from the frontlines of shale gas resistance
When: Monday, Feb. 3 at 7:00pm
Where: Kinsella Auditorium, McCain Hall at St. Thomas University, Fredericton
Opposition to shale gas, fracking and the violence exercised by the police against land defenders from Elsipogtog and beyond on unceded Mi’kmaq territory in New Brunswick made international headlines in 2013. How are the stories being told in corporate, state and independent media? What is considered newsworthy? Which voices are we meant to identify with, and which ones are marginalized? Can the media ever be ‘neutral?” What is the role of a journalist in society?
Join us for a discussion with news reporters and activists found on the front lines of shale gas resistance in Elsipogtog, Rexton and beyond. The reportage of the panelists has garnered widespread appreciation but has also been met with criticism from traditional news sources as well as repression in the form of arrests. They will share a critical perspective on the media and how it will be part of determining the answer to the burning question on the minds of people in New Brunswick today: will shale gas go ahead in New Brunswick?
With:
Annie Clair is a Mi’kmaq protector from Elsipogtog. She was arrested twice in 2013 in actions opposing shale gas on Mi’kmaq territory. Her son, Junior Breau has remained in prison, along with Aaron Francis, since Oct. 17th, both on charges stemming from participation in the blockade.
Jorge Barrera is a reporter for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. His investigative work in indigenous communities and his outstanding, multi-platform reporting on the Idle No More movement earned him the 2012 J-Source Newsperson of the Year Award. The award honours an individual who has demonstrated excellence and made a positive impact on the quality of journalism. Barrera and the APTN team were some of the first reporters on the story behind the Idle No More movement, which garnered international media attention and prompted conversations between the highest levels of government and Aboriginal leaders.
Miles Howe is a journalist and editor with the Halifax Media Co-op. He was arrested three times in 2013 while covering resistance to shale gas in Kent County, New Brunswick. The Media Co-op and the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression denounced the ongoing attempts of the police to prevent Howe from reportingon shale gas exploration and resistance to it. None of his arrests resulted in charges. Howe is a peace activist, sociologist, caterer and musician. He was a member of the 2011 Canada Boat to Gaza that was illegally seized on November 4, 2011 in international waters by Israel.
Dallas McQuarrie has been covering shale gas and events in Elsipogtog for the NB Media Co-op. McQuarrie lives in Saint-Ignace, Kent County, the hotbed of shale gas resistance in 2013. He was the editor of a student publication in Saskatchewan that was the subject of police intimidation during the War Measures Act era. McQuarrie and his wife, Susan, were arrested in June of this year near Harcourt with 10 others during a peaceful shale gas protest where the protesters refused to moved from the line blocking thumper trucks used in shale gas exploration.
About the NB Media Coop The NB Media Co-op was formed in 2009 following a successful Social Forum the year before in Fredericton where 200 people rooted in a variety of social movements gathered under the hopeful banner, Another New Brunswick and World are Possible. The founders of the NB Media Co-op chose the not-for-profit co-operative model as they felt it to be the most democratic model for producing and disseminating media. Through the monthly print publication, The Brief, and news website, the NB Media Co-op seeks to create a space for various movements for equality and justice to connect, get the word out, strategize, reflect and thoughtfully and constructively criticize and debate.
Sponsored by the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, St. Thomas University’s Department of Criminology and the Atlantic Canada Studies Centre.
For more information, contact: info@nbmediacoop.org.