First Nations Voice

NOVEMBER 2016 • PAGE 3 Pamela Vernaus, APTN Communications Coordinator APTN Investigates is a team of award-winning journalists committed to seeking the truth for our Peoples. Led by executive producer Paul Barnsley, who recently won the annual Journalism for Human Rights Lifetime Achievement Hu- man Rights Reporting Award. Barnsley has a long career cover- ing human rights issues in Aboriginal communities across the country. His career started at the Six Nations with the Tekawennake, a weekly newspaper; he then worked as a correspondent for Windspeaker in Edmonton. In 2007, he joined APTN, where he continues to make huge impacts on the network. He says he hopes the award will draw attention to APTN Investigates and APTN National News. A bigger audi- ence means more Canadians will be hearing and paying attention to Aborigi- nal voices, and that is something Canada needs if there it to be a true effort of reconciliation. But the road to reconciliation isn't an easy one, and neither is working for one of the first Aboriginal investigative news programs in Canada. The show prides itself on bringing you hard-hitting investigative reports and stories that change lives and matter to you, with only a small crew of eight or nine people doing most of the heavy lifting all week. "The hardest part of the job is competing with shows that have far more people and a lot more money to work with," says Barnsley. "I watch the mainstream investigative shows and I'll see 60, 80 even 100 names roll by, whereas we might have 20– if you include everybody in the studio crew and master control who was at work the day our show was recorded." Barnsley also mentions he can't help but feel a sense of pride, in spite of it all, the team has regularly contributed to hugely important stories over the first seven seasons. "New challenges keep it fresh and interesting. I wouldn't have wanted to miss this experience, frustra- tions and all. And the pride that comes from competing with – and beating – organizations that are so much bet- ter resourced is something that's really worthwhile." This past October, APTN Investi- gates went into its eighth season. It has covered environmental stories, like the contamination at Grassy narrows, op- position to the Site C dam in Treaty 8 ter- ritory and the Liquefied natural gas plant off the B.C Coast. The show will also look at the recent court decision regard- ing Métis rights, as well as an in-depth story about the dispute in Standing Rock, North Dakota, over the Dakota Access Pipeline and what underlying issues have led to the occupation and to the use of police and military force against Native American occupiers in the United States. Watch APTN Investigates every Fri- day at 6:30 p.m. on aptn e and aptn hd (ET), aptn w (MT) and aptn n (CT). You can always check your local TV listings for show times or APTN's online schedule at aptn.ca/schedule! Hard-hitting Investigative Reports and Stories that Change Lives and Matter to You Paul Barnsley Executive Producer

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