Disrupting Settler Colonialism and Oppression in Media and Policy-Making: A View from the Community Media Advocacy Centre

Abstract

The regulatory regimes that dictate media and telecommunications practices in Canada uphold the colonial settler state and do little to combat systemic racism in the media. This is in part due to communication policy-making processes that marginalize and disempower diverse communities. Too often policy makers and researchers neglect prioritizing the specific needs and rights of people who are racialized, Indigenous, or living with disAbilities to access and representation in media. Within this context, the Community Media Advocacy Centre (www.CMACentre.ca) was founded in 2015 to disrupt settler colonialism and oppression in the media. CMAC was co-founded by experienced media activists who worked for decades in the vibrant community and Indigenous broadcasting sectors within Canada. Today, CMAC is a registered nonprofit organization uniquely comprised of academics, lawyers, policy consultants, and media practitioners who prioritize the perspectives, voices, and lived experiences of Indigenous Peoples, racialized people, and people living with disAbilities. CMAC prioritizes these voices because they are underrepresented in the media landscape generally and noticeably absent from media policy processes. Through research, relationship-building, advocacy, and learning, CMAC works to foreground the experience and knowledge of people who are racialized, Indigenous, or living with disAbilities in media research and communication policy processes.