The Native Women’s Association of Canada is angry with recent media coverage of Raymond Cormier’s trial.
Cormier is accused of second-degree murder in the death of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine. Her body was found in the Red River in August, 2014 after the exploited youth ran away from a hotel she was being housed at by Child and Family Services.
NWAC President Francyne Joe says the media has used victim-blaming rhetoric and negative, unfounded stereotypes in their reporting about Fontaine at the trial and needs to do better.
Joe says media need to consider the stereotypes and myths on which narratives, including those about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, are based before constructing stories and headlines that could harm communities and families.
She says her organization regularly witnesses the damage that negative media language and
thoughtless coverage causes.