Over
the course of her journalism career, Carmen has
written well over 1,000 articles for publication, and
has published a comparable number of photographs. She
has also had multiple radio and film scripts produced
by Missinipi Broadcasting and Thomega Entertainment.
Carmen has also contributed to several books and
research studies, and produced newspapers,
newsletters, reports and articles for numerous
non-profit and political clients.
A
sampling of Carmen's work:
Special
projects
Forest
fire crisis updates for the Lac La Ronge Indian Band
– In 2006, as the LLRIB's communications officer,
Carmen was tasked with gathering and communicating
information to the band's 7,000+ members about the
forest fires threatening many of their communities,
which had forced mass evacuations. She attended
emergency operations centre and band crisis team
meetings, prepared and distributed daily public
reports, wrote a speech for the band's chief to read
live on MBC Radio, took photos, and wrote up the
events for the band's newspaper, the Cree
Communicator. Her role was considered an
essential service by the band's executive director,
who asked her to stay if La Ronge itself was
evacuated.
Athabasca:
Where the Spirit Flies – Carmen was hired
in 2007 as the screenwriter for a
documentary/promotional film, promoting business
development and partnership opportunities in
Saskatchewan's far north, known as the Athabasca
Basin. In additional to developing and writing the
narrative voice-over, she also conducted on-site
interviews with community leaders and business people
in each of the Athabasca Basin's remote fly-in
communities. These interviews were then edited by the
production team at Thomega Entertainment, which
produced the film for the Athabasca Economic
Development and Training Corporation. The film was
completed in 2009.
New
Horizons: NORTEP/NORPAC: Perspectives 30 Years
Later – For its 30th
anniversary, the Northern Teacher Education Program
(NORTEP) hired Carmen as part of a team working on a
series of reports about the program's impact on
northern Saskatchewan. Carmen was tasked with
interviewing NORTEP graduates, teachers,
administrators, and community leaders across the
North, and writing personal profiles and analysis
pieces.
Where
the Spirit Dances – In 2010-11, Carmen's
home church, La Ronge Alliance, went through a
collective “revisioning” process. As a way of
illustrating the congregation's goals, Carmen and two
other church members (Kelly Provost and Timea
Patterson) decided to create a pretend “documentary”
film set in 2020, looking at the church's impact on
its community over the past 10 years. Carmen was
tasked with scripting the film, drawing on ideas that
came from the revisioning process. Since all the
“interviews” were to be voiced by actors, Carmen wrote
both the narration and the interview clips for the
film. The finished film can be viewed
on YouTube.
MBC
Radio
coverage of coroner's inquest into the death of
Walter McKenzie – Carmen was hired on a
short-term contract to attend a four-day coroner's
inquest into the death of a homeless man who died in
police custody, and provide regular on-scene updates
for MBC Radio. These scripts were written by and large
from the courtroom on an iPad, and e-mailed to MBC's
newsroom. MBC has “top-of-the-hour” English language
news broadcasts at 9, 10 and 11 a.m., and 12, 4 and 5
p.m. daily. (The station switches to Cree and Dene
language programming from 1 to 3:59 p.m.) Canada's
legal system prohibits recording audio or video during
court proceedings, so these scripts were read on-air
with no audio clips. After the inquest, two of MBC's
on-air announcers spontaneously e-mailed Carmen to
express appreciation for the quality of her coverage.
Saskatchewan's
Friendship Centre Community Connections –
In 2014, Carmen was contracted by Kikinahk Friendship
Centre to produce a magazine profiling all of
Saskatchewan's friendship centres, which are
community-based organizations reaching out to
Aboriginal people in these communities. Carmen
developed the overall concept and interview questions,
arranged in-person visits to each centre (spread over
a large geographic area), interviewed staff, took
and/or gathered photographs, and then returned home to
transcribe interviews and craft the articles. The
final 24-page magazine was entirely written and edited
by Carmen, with the graphic design a collaborative
effort between Carmen and her husband Bryan, and was
very well received by all of the friendship centres.
Education
“Roberts
first band member to complete Ph.D” – a nursing
professor earns her doctorate by studying the disease
threatening her mother's life (This is one of numerous
articles written for several issues of the Cree
Communicator, a newspaper Carmen produced for
the Lac La Ronge Indian Band.)
“When
there's one way out” – a firefighter survival
course puts trainees through hair-raising scenarios
“Let
teachers get back to teaching” – an educator
studies the role of schools
Health
care
“Silent
night, tragic night” – an night ride with an
ambulance team proves both sad and disturbing
“Nurses
not interested” – recruitment problems for a
northern Saskatchewan health region
“Sod
turned for La Loche's new hospital” – explores
hopes that space for an expanded youth sexual wellness
program could reduce the northern village's rate of
teen pregnancies
“Vets
snip for free in remote centre” – veterinary
students spay and neuter pets to reduce Stanley
Mission's roaming dog problem
“If
you quit, you'll be sitting forever” – the
impact of an organization advocating for disabled
northerners
Justice
“Judge
of the people” - a profile of La Ronge's 'cowboy
judge'
“Sitting
in judgement” - what it's like to be a
sequestered juror for a high-profile court case
“It's
now Judge Robinson” – a passionate outdoorsman
becomes a provincial court judge
Faith
“Quiz
meets
erase denominational barriers” – a Christian and
Missionary Alliance competitive Scripture memorization
program brings in quizzers from multiple
denominations, including Roman Catholics
“Saskatchewan's
oldest
building still refreshes faith” – a profile of
Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Stanley Mission
“New
face,
new attitude for Hoffman” – a pastor's daughter
comes into her own as a missionary in Mexico
“Push
back
the darkness” – a memorial liturgy for those
hurt or killed by violence
“Church
honours
La Ronge RCMP” – the La Ronge Lutheran
Fellowship praises local police officers
“Afghans
cared
for aid workers” – a pair of missionaries offer
a compassionate view of Afghanistan's people
“The
little
church that wasn't supposed to be” – a
Native-run church reaches out to Regina's street
people
Social
issues
“Home
narrowly escapes” – arson hits a family for the
fourth time in a month
“Symbolic
burn rekindles spirits” – the Lac La Ronge
Indian Band torches a boat as part of their
residential school healing process
“Water
safety can never be ignored” – lessons from the
Walkerton, Ontario tainted tap water scandal
“Sticking
together” – the people who helped during a
forest fire crisis (This is one of a series of
articles that led to the La Ronge Northerner's
editorial team winning the Canadian Community
Newspapers Association's “Best News Story” award.)
“Residents
shout down halfway house” / “Council
swayed by loudest bullies” – a facility for
paroled convicts falls prey to the 'not in my
backyard' argument (Carmen wrote both a straight news
piece and an opinion piece on this issue, showing that
it's possible to feel passionately about a cause and
still present information factually.)
“Dead
dogs left unburied at town dump” – explores the
ethics and legality of killing animals at a municipal
landfill
“Popped
pole puts out phones” - a multi-source news
story about the fallout from a cut fibre-optic line
Business
“Lumber
dispute will be felt in the North” – a
cross-border trade war hurts a local sawmill
“Get
the dirt: McArthur River big on being clean” –
cleanliness is critical in a uranium mine
Human
interest
“Chicken
Little
was right” – astronomy grad students solve
NASA's meteor problem
“It's
a
living” – behind-the-scenes with a traveling
circus
“Morel
morsels
head for cover” – an adventure in finding
elusive mushrooms
“Key
Lake
miner wrestles wolf to standstill” – a work camp
jog turns into man-versus-beast encounter
“Cook
reflects
on career and commitment” – a profile of the Lac
La Ronge Indian Band's long-time chief
Global
perspective
“A
world
of learning” – a Pearson College of the Pacific
grad's work term in Uganda
“Northern
pilots,
families ride out effect of tsunamis” – a local
water bomber pilot and his wife survive the 2004
Indian Ocean tsunami and help with the aftermath
“Storozuk
patrols
31-year border of conflict” – a northern soldier
and refrigeration technician's work in the Golan
Heights region between Israel and Syria
Sports
and recreation
“Torch receives emotional welcome in Lac La Ronge”
– "Torch receives emotional welcome in Lac La Ronge" - the Olympic torch visits a northern Saskatchewan First Nation
“In
a league of her own: memories of an All-American
Girl” – Daisy Junor's experiences playing
professional baseball (Originally written for a
journalism school assignment, this article has had a
long shelf life, first on the All-American Girls
Professional Baseball League Players Association
website for close to two decades, and more recently in
a slightly shorter form in an American Common Core
literature textbook published by Pearson Education.)
“Farther,
higher, faster – it's ballet, not the Olympics”
– a teacher disputes the idea that ballet is only for
girls
“Determination
key to Olympian's success” – a profile of water
polo gold medalist and indigenous rights activist
Waneek Horn-Miller
“Pro
skiers share tips and tales with race team” –
budding athletes gain new insights into their sport
Arts
and media
“Adam
Beach plays part of role model to perfection” –
a profile of Canada's best-known Native actor
“Media
checked out through eyes of La Ronge” – national
news reporters take a look at how La Ronge is
perceived by (and, in turn, perceives) the media
(Carmen's comments in an on-line Canadian journalism
discussion group triggered the documentary team's
interest in La Ronge.)
“Writer
has deep interest in North, and in children” – a
profile of editor, fiction writer, and motorcycle
enthusiast Rod MacIntyre (After this article was
published, MacIntyre declared himself highly impressed
by Carmen's research skills.)
“Getting
the group together” – how musician Don Freed
coaxes new songs out of northern kids
