Australia’s media landscape counts several Indigenous media organisations, such as the Koori Mail, the National Indigenous Times or Indigenous X, which are fully dedicated to Indigenous current affairs and whose aims are to give a voice to Indigenous Peoples, which is otherwise missing in the mainstream media.

The National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air TV channel launched in 2007, that broadcasts programming and news stories produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. NITV is part of the SBS network, the second public broadcaster in Australia that provides radio and TV services in over 68 languages.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national public broadcaster of Australia. As part of its public service mission, the ABC Charter requires that it reflects the cultural diversity and the communities of the country. Its editorial policies include thorough guidelines on how to cover Indigenous affairs while respecting their culture and customs.

The public broadcaster established an Indigenous Department within the organisation in 1987, focusing on production of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander television and the development of Indigenous filmmakers in Australia. Another initiative within the ABC is ABC Indigenous, an online portal that brings together a diverse range of ABC media from across Australia, with a strong focus on news, current affairs, and stories from Indigenous communities.

In 2023, in an effort for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples’ culture and language to be better represented in the media, the ABC signed strategic partnerships with two peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations; First Languages Australia (FLA) and the First Nations Media Australia (FNMA).

Despite efforts to establish a greater diversity and inclusion, issues of racism towards Indigenous staff members led to an investigation and racism report which was published in September 2024. The review, which was based on interviews with 120 current and former staff, found systemic racism within the organisation, detailing examples of overt and covert racism. It also found that staff had been “subjected to racism from external individuals and organisations in connection with their work,” and those people had not been adequately supported. The findings led to an apology from Managing Director, David Anderson, and the ABC accepted in principle all 15 recommendations.

While the ABC does not have a singular Indigenous strategy, it does produce a Reconciliation Action Plan in association with Reconciliation Australia, which sets targets for how it can advance towards reconciliation. Following the Independent Review, a role of Director First Nations Strategy was established at executive level, overseeing the implementation of the recommendations.

From the earliest days of settlement, Indigenous leaders have made the connection between mass media and cultural survival, which developed into a long and storied history of Indigenous media. From the first Indigenous-run newspaper, The Indian, published in Ontario in 1885, to today’s publications including Wataway and The Windspeaker. That moved to community radio in the 1950s, and a CBC service in the North of Canada. Similar to other countries, Indigenous leaders from the 1970s started to protest the need for an Indigenous media presence, which finally came in 1999, when the Aboriginal Peoples TV Network (APTN) was formed, and in 2022, Inuit TV was launched in the North.

There have been shortfalls, though, and the country has been holding an examination of the role the media may have played in the disadvantages faced by Indigenous Peoples. The Truth and Reconciliation report contains three calls for the media: that the federal government fund CBC/Radio-Canada to support reconciliation and be “properly reflective of the diverse cultures, languages and perspectives of Aboriginal peoples.” It also called for APTN to support reconciliation and to provide leadership and to connect Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians, as well as for journalism schools to educate students on Indigenous laws, history and issues.

The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) this year celebrates a quarter-of-a-century on air, but its origin begins decades earlier, in the twilight days of satellite broadcast television. Indigenous leaders in the north of Canada were seeing American programmes beamed into Arctic living rooms, but there was no reflection of themselves, their lives, languages or cultures, so they started to agitate for a by Indigenous, for Indigenous broadcaster.

In 1980, a CRTC report found the government had a responsibility to ensure Indigenous cultures and languages were supported through broadcasting. This took its first steps in 1992, when a channel launched in a small strip in the country’s north. In 1999, a licence was granted by the CRTC, and a national service, APTN, was launched six months later, the world’s first Indigenous television network.

Since then, APTN has operated as an advertising-supported nonprofit, but it is required to be carried by all television providers in Canada. It broadcasts mostly Canadian-content, including Indigenous programmes, drama, documentaries, films, news programmes, and children’s content, and has branched out into sports commentary and other types of programming. To mark its 25^th anniversary, it also launched a second channel that will broadcast entirely in Indigenous languages. It also has a streaming service, APTN lumi. It is also a founding member of the World Indigenous Television Broadcasters Network.

The national public service broadcaster is CBC/Radio-Canada, which started as a radio service in 1936 but is today a multiplatform broadcaster with TV and extensive online services as well. Its mandate is to celebrate Canadian culture.

CBC/Radio-Canada has offered Indigenous programming since the establishment of its northern service in 1958, and since then other services like CBC Indigenous, ICI Grand Nord and Espaces autochtones serve First Nations, Inuit and Métis across the country. However, CBC/Radio-Canada has said it has work to do across the wider organisation, and in 2024 launched the first-of-its-kind National Indigenous Strategy, a three-year plan that lays out how the national public broadcaster will better reflect and serve Indigenous communities.

Greenland has two nationwide media organisations; public service broadcaster Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (KNR) which produces radio, television and web news, and privately owned Sermitsiaq/AG, which publishes newspapers and magazines.

There are also several local newspapers and smaller broadcast stations, mostly based in Nuuk, the capital.  During colonial rule, media was state-run by Denmark with very few media policies in place. The first broadcasts in Greenland were Danish television programmes recorded on VHS tapes that had been shipped from Denmark. Later, private media emerged and the perspective on the role of media in society changed as well. In 1979, on the eve of Home Rule, which was to give the Greenlandic community greater influence over their own affairs, the paradigm of media changed from an educational perspective to viewing the media as a tool to preserve Greenlandic identity and minimising Danish influence.

Today, KNR is Greenland’s largest media organisation, providing content across TV, Radio and online. KNR ’s language policy follows the Language Act, offering content in Kalaallisut and Danish, as well as the island’s three other dialects. This policy ensures the strengthening and development of multilingualism, with Kalaallisut as principal language and Danish as first foreign language.

KNR produces much of its own content but also has agreements with the Danish public broadcaster to broadcast some of their content. However, radio services remain dominant over TV offerings, as they have to compete with bigger platforms.

As with many public media organisations, KNR faces significant challenges. Its small newsroom often faces difficulties and it is short-staffed. Additionally, it has been difficult to compete with larger media organisations, such as the Danish public broadcaster, DR, due to their resourcing and visibility. This can represent an issue when covering sensitive topics linked to the relations between Greenland and Denmark and their common history.

There is a long history of Māori media, starting with newspapers in the 19^th century, particularly tied to Māori sovereignty movements, born in the 19^th century land wars and the continued resistance to settler colonisation. Today, there are two main national broadcasters: TVNZ, which is state-owned but entirely commercial, and RNZ, which is commercial free, publicly-funded and governed by a charter. In the 1980s, Māori groups brought a series of judicial claims against the Crown arguing it had betrayed its obligation to the “active protection” of the Māori language, including its omission from public broadcasting. More specific claims in the ‘90s went as far as the Privy Council, forcing the government’s hand. It created funding for various tribal radio stations, today known as the Iwi Radio Network, a Māori commissioning agency known as Te Māngai Paho, and, eventually, Māori Television, which launched in 2004.  Ahead of the 2023 election, the previous  Labour government commissioned a review of Māori Media, and a cabinet paper identified continuing inequities in how Māori media is operated and funded. One example is that non-Māori media gets NZ$70 for every hour of content broadcast, while Māori media gets NZ$30 for the equivalent.

Since the election, the National-led government is yet to make any decisions about the future of Māori media. In August 2024, following warnings of financial headwinds, Whakaata Māori announced an executive team restructure, brought forward plans to make the Te Reo channel (Aotearoa’s only fully te reo-speaking linear channel) online-only; and made significant job cuts.

The national public service broadcaster is RNZ. Māori was first broadcast on radio in the late 1920s, but content was largely limited to music or pageantry for several decades. Specific Māori programmes, with Māori hosts, started to appear in the mid-century and mobile units built up a significant archive of oral histories and old oratory, and iconic weekly programmes were on the ground for significant events. Other Māori programmes and news bulletins continued to develop over the years.

Today, RNZ is governed by a charter, which compels it to “reflect New Zealand’s cultural identity, including Māori language and culture.” It has Māori programmes, a member of the executive known as the Tumu Māori, as well as dedicated Māori news reporters, but there is no dedicated Māori unit or station. Most of its Māori programmes are in English, with no dedicated Māori language programme (although there are podcasts). However, it has won plaudits for its integration of te reo Māori into its mainstream programming.

It has a Māori strategy, Rautaki Māori, which involves embedding the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi into the organisation, ensuring “Māori perspectives, voices and aspirations are embedded in our content and services.” The plan includes increased collaboration and equity, participation, and the protection of te reo Māori, as well as Indigenous practices and science (maatauranga).  RNZ has in the past been criticised for its lack of Māori staff and on-air presence, including by a former broadcasting minister. RNZ has doubled its Māori content in two years, according to its latest annual report, and has launched new shows and hosts, although its staff diversity still lags the general population: 8.2 percent of staff at RNZ are Māori, compared to 16.5 percent of the population.

In Norway, there are several dedicated Sámi news outlets, including Ávvir (written in Northern Sámi), and Ságat (written in Norwegian). In the 1990s, there was a rapid expansion, which also led to the creation of a journalism degree at the Sámi University of Applied Sciences.

However, Sámi media is to some extent dependent on state financing and subject to state regulations. “Analysing the history of Sámi journalism and press, we find that the Sámi media system lacks true autonomy. Developing such autonomy would undoubtedly deepen Sámi self-determination in general,” wrpte Torkel Rasmussen, Inker-Anni Sara, & Roy KrøvelI in their analysis of the Sámi media system.

News about Sámi people, or coverage of the Sámi Parliament is underrepresented in Norway’s mainstream media. A 2022 analysis of the reporting from the country’s two major newspapers showed there were just 14 and eight articles published in print on the Sámi Parliament every year. The reporting that is done mostly pertains to cultural topics, said Skjalg Fjellheim, the political editor of Nordlys.

Public service media has a vital role in Sweden and Norway. For Sámi, they “are the most important media in both countries. They broadcast in several languages and reach out to everyone,” according to media scholar Eli Skogerbø. Sámi do not have their own public broadcaster – instead, Sámi divisions exist within the national broadcasters NRK, SVT and SR, and Yle, with varying levels of investment and autonomy. There is a significant amount of collaboration and cooperation amongst them.

NRK Sápmi – the Indigenous branch of Norway’s public broadcaster – started as a 20-minute radio programme in 1946. The first Sámi journalist was hired in 1948, and the service expanded, opening several offices throughout the first few decades.

In 1992, NRK Sámi Radio became its own division of NRK, and collaboration between themselves and the Sámi services at the public broadcasters of Finland and Sweden strengthened in the early 2000s with agreements over shared bulletins and other programming. In 2011, NRK Sámi Radio changed its name to NRK Sápmi, to reflect its multi-platform offering. It is the largest Sámi service in the Nordics, employing around 90 people, with offices in nine separate locations.

NRK Sápmi is a national leader for producing and distributing Sámi based content. It produces content predominantly in Northern Sámi but also Southern Sámi and Lule Sámi as well as Norwegian.

The broadcaster is legally mandated to “strengthen Norwegian and Sámi language, identity and culture.”  In its 2023 strategic goals, highlighting and enriching Norwegian and Sámi language and culture was one of the broadcaster’s principal aims. A Sámi talent scheme was introduced in 2023 and made permanent in 2024, however it was noted that it was challenging to find people who speak a Sámi language. Recently, NRK has introduced ‘language advisor’ roles.

Sámi programmes were first broadcast in Swedish on SR in 1952, but it was not until 1965 that the first Sámi language programme was broadcast, and then not until 2000 did it become its own unit, known as Sameradion, with its own director.

Sameradion enjoys close cooperation with SVT Sápmi, sharing the same office space in Kiruna, and with content exchanges, pooled resources and joint social media accounts. It has offices in six other locations across Sweden.

Sameradion focusses on providing quality audio for Sámi. It has a daily broadcast slot on FM, but has a 24-hour stream via its website, where it also features content from NRK and Yle. In 2024, Sameradion announced it had experienced a 37 percent increase in the number of Sámi news clips played via the website, while there were over 50,000 audio downloads in the first half of the year.

The mission of Swedish Radio is to provide a depth of coverage in minority languages, including Sámi. Sameradion produces content in three Sámi languages, and Swedish. It is also required to serve the needs of children, and Sameradion has its own children’s radio programme, Manáidrádio. As well as providing news and information to Sámi (it also digitally broadcasts a stream from the Sámi Parliament), it is also tasked with bringing Sámi people, news and culture to the rest of the population.

Due to downsizing across Swedish Radio in 2023, it was announced at least one position would have to be cut from Sameradion.

Taiwan’s media landscape has evolved over many years since the fall of the autocratic government. The Public Television Service (PTS), established in 1998, initially offered limited Indigenous content, such as the “Indigenous News Magazine,” which presented Indigenous perspectives, through an outsider’s lens. The launch of Taiwan Indigenous Television (TITV) in 2005 marked a turning point, becoming the first Indigenous television station in Asia, allowing Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan to produce and share news in their own voices.

Beside TITV, Taiwan also has an indigenous radio broadcaster, Alian 96.3 which started to broadcast in 2017. This radio station, which also falls under the authority of the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation has joined TITV in the effort of exploring Indigenous issues and preserving the Indigenous languages of the country. Alian 96.3 broadcasts programmes in the 16 languages of the officially recognised tribes in Taiwan.

However, this diversity of languages represents one of the main challenges of Indigenous media and is highly debated, as too few journalists and media workers speak the different languages fluently.

To provide information in their language to the Hakka community in Taiwan, a TV channel, HakkaTV, was launched in 2003 which first operated under the Council of Hakka Affairs. The channel later joined the Taiwan Broadcasting System(TBS).

While TITV used to be part of PTS Taiwan, it has since become independent and is now operated by the Council of Indigenous People.

TITV’s fundamental mission is to “Inherit the culture and education of indigenous peoples and operate the cultural communication media business of indigenous peoples”. This shift was encouraged by the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law, which mandated the protection of Indigenous language and culture, and ensured that the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation (IPCF) supported Indigenous access to and production of media. The IPCF plays a crucial role in promoting contemporary Indigenous culture, not just through TITV, but also through art subsidies and other cultural initiatives. The 2017 language law further emphasised linguistic education, contributing to TITV’s mission.

There are around 400 Native American news outlets operating across the US and Canada, according to the Indigenous Journalists’ Association. These outlets, whether they are print, online, or broadcast, provide news and information to Native communities on Indigenous affairs, and coverage of Native American and Alaska Native administrations.

Analysis in 2022 by the Pew Research Center identified 134 reporters across 44 news outlets, specifically covering tribal governments. However, this analysis also recorded that many news outlets do not have financial independence, and therefore rely on tribal funds to operate, raising questions of editorial independence.

Due to the unique public media structures in the US, there are many Native American public radio or television outlets, which are part of the NPR or PBS networks, such as KSUT based in Colorado. In total, there are 57 Native radio stations, and four television stations. In Alaska, the Koahnic Broadcast Corporation produces Indigenous content and coverage, which is distributed to other media partners. In mainstream US culture, there has been limited space afforded to Native communities or their stories. However, there has been something of a sea change in recent years, with shows such as Echo and Reservation Dogs reaching mainstream audiences. Meanwhile, in national news media, there remains a challenge to ensure the reportage does not stigmatise or stereotype Native American and Alaska Native communities. The IJA has developed a bingo card to try to prevent such stories being produced.

NPR is the US’ eminent public radio broadcaster, but a 2020 report exposed some shortcomings when it came to serving Indigenous Peoples, both in its level and depth of coverage, and its people.

In terms of content, qualitative responses suggested NPR does a better job than its mainstream media rivals, with Indigenous public radio journalist Brian Bull saying NPR provides the “most culturally aware, sensitive and receptive” coverage. Another journalist, however, explained NPR’s coverage is “about” rather than “for” a community. National coverage has also expanded, with more effort put in to get journalists at Native networks to pitch to NPR’s national programmes.

On the people side, however, NPR continues to struggle. The 2023 Staff Diversity report showed just one percent of staff are Native American / Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander, while there was no representation at either the supervisor or audience facing journalist level.

However, there have been some initiatives to promote Indigenous reporting amongst NPR’s affiliate stations and share it more widely, including through a fly-in event, led by NPR’s Indigenous Employee Resource Group.