Reader pleads viewers' case

Page 5

Dear Editor:

My name's Annie. This is a letter, not just for Contact, but to everyone working at APTN and for Windspeaker.

I guess I better start by confessing that I am not an Aboriginal person. I am, however, married to a Mohawk man and have two Mohawk children, a 10-year-old boy named Sky, and a 12-year-old girl named Raven.

I've never written before, but I have, once or twice, called into Contact. I am writing because I read in a newspaper article that APTN wants to cut its news and current affairs programs. I guess it's sadly typical that when people are watching something they enjoy, they just sit back and take it for granted. Then, when it's gone, it's too late. Still, I'm hoping it's not too late.

Please bear with me as I tell you a little about myself and why your shows are so important.

I thought I knew everything there was to know about Aboriginal people, because I'm well educated, quite up on the news, and I watch CBC religiously and always thought they were doing a fair job. My husband complained often that I didn't "get it." What I thought was fair used to make him angry. I never understood why, and when he'd try to explain I honestly thought he was exaggerating. That all changed when I started watching Contact and InVision News.

Pictures are worth about a million words and the things that I saw opened my eyes. Here are the stories burned forever into my mind:

? The Saskatoon police dumping an Aboriginal man out in the freezing cold, and then callously arguing that just because it's unethical, it's not illegal.

? The Minister of Indian Affairs driving by a group of protestors who wanted to speak to him, and dodging time and again as reporters try to question him.

? A community of people peacefully trying to protect their land from a forestry company, being harassed by police and truck drivers, and then getting arrested so the loggers can destroy their homes.

? The story of James Ward, a warrior who is trying to protect the Aboriginal people who have to dodge bullets and federal government patrol boats everyday as they try to eke out a living.

? The Assembly of First Nations being decimated because they refused to play ball with the minister on a law that no one but the government seems to want.

? People living in shacks that I wouldn't let my dog live in.

So many, many things.

I thought I knew everything. How wrong I was. How embarrassed and ashamed of myself I am. But why, I ask myself was I so arrogantly sure of myself? Because I didn't want to believe that racism exists. I didn't want to believe it, because I'm raising two Mohawk children.

And up until APTN opened my eyes, I didn't have to see it. After all, no one else shows it. I'm realizing now how biased the CBC is. I remember how unfairly they reported on the whole Burnt Church scenario last summer, and how different and obvious the truth was on APTN. I'm thinking how no one else gave a voice to James Ward, especially like Contact did.

I can't tell you what a big fan I am, my husband is, and my children are of APTN. My children look up to people like Rick Harp and Carol Adams as heros. And now I see that changing.

From the impression I got in the article, there are going to be cutbacks, layoffs and a new "more entertaining " type of show. I can't tell you what a mistake I think that is.

Sure I love watching entertainment programming on APTN. I love entertainment like North of 60 and Northern Exposure. I like watching movies like "Thunderheart." Who doesn't? But I can tune into other channels to see those programs. Plus I can see them on other channels first, not just in reruns.

These programs are good, but they do not live up to the slogan "Original People, Original Programming." And that is precisely what people tune into APTN to see.

I want to see shows like Contact and InVision. So does my husband. It is what we wanted, expected and hoped for when APTN started. It took a long time to get this kind of quality, original proramming on APTN, and now, when it's still in its infancy, it looks like it's about to disappear forever.

I can already see the difference, already see what cutbacks are doing. Carol Adams is gone, and rather than having Rick Harp replace her, as he did this summer, InVision now has an unknown face on the show. It is so important to see news from a credible face that you know and trust, and that face is gone. It's been replaced with a stranger, a newcomer. Probably cheaper, but at what real price? Credibility, trust and experience.

I can tell you, your viewers will leave too. I'm afraid that the next cut might be to Rick Harp, as APTN tries to cut back again and hire someone younger and less experienced and less known for less cash, which is what seems to be the trend at APTN these days.

All I can hope is that you take viewer response seriously and will not tear apart these shows anymore than has already been done. If you are counting viewer feedback, please count this as four. After watching InVision tonight, I wrote this, read it to my husband and children and they all said they agree 100 per cent.

Annie Rose,

Brantford, Ont.