The Media Industry Is Dying. We’re Betting on Truth
As legacy newsrooms fall and AI floods the feed, Indian & Cowboy Creative is doubling down on truth through documentary, podcasting, and Indigenous-led storytelling.
Over the past decade, the business of storytelling has been steamrolled by the world of listicles, influencers, rage bait, click bait, and now, AI-generated content.
Every week brings another headline announcing layoffs, closures, or consolidations in the media.
In Canada, Bell has cut over 7000 jobs in two years alone.
According to the Canadian Journalism Foundation, over the past five years, Canada has lost approximately 10,000 jobs in both print and broadcast media.
To the south of us, it’s the same story.
NBC News just cut nearly 10% of its newsroom.
Six hundred jobs have been lost at Paramount, with cuts affecting BET, MTV, and CBS.
By every economic measure, building a new media company at this time seems like the worst idea imaginable.
And yet, that’s exactly what we’re doing.
We really have no choice.
Here’s a snapshot of the state of Canadian journalism and newsrooms from the Canadian Association of Journalists and their 2024 Diversity Survey:
About 77% of journalists identify as white, only 3.5% identify as Indigenous and 19.5% identify as a visible minority
About 70% of newsrooms employed no Indigenous or visible minority journalists in the top three roles
About 70% of surveyed media outlets employed no Indigenous journalists, 66% employed no Black journalists and 70% didn’t have any Latin journalists on staff.
Rather than improving, Indigenous representation in newsrooms has declined from 2021 to 2024.
At Indian & Cowboy Creative, we believe that moments of collapse often create the clearest conditions for truth. When the old systems fall apart, new ones can emerge. For us, the model is not one of scale or spectacle, but a model of spirit, relationship, and responsibility.
Indian & Cowboy Creative Believes Documentary Is The Tool For This Moment
Something remarkable is happening in film and media right now: the truth is winning.
The global documentary market, once considered a niche corner of cinema, has surged to roughly $13 billion and is expected to nearly double within the decade.
Netflix took home six Peabody Awards for its documentary work this year. The Pulitzers expanded their recognition of audio and visual journalism, honouring long-form investigative storytelling.
European theatres are seeing documentaries outperform scripted films.
This isn’t just about box office or metrics. It’s about a deeper shift in what audiences crave.
After years of misinformation, algorithmic noise, and a culture of distraction, people are reaching back toward what feels real — something grounded in lived experience.
The so-called “fake news” era has left deep scars on public trust. But at this time, something essential has re-emerged: a hunger for fact, integrity, and proof.
Viewers no longer want spin; they want evidence. They want to see and hear for themselves. In the end, truth always outlasts performance — because truth can be revisited, cited, and shared. It doesn’t evaporate with the news cycle. It stays, and it demands accountability.
And nowhere is that demand for truth more urgent than here in Canada and across Indigenous nations worldwide.
The Plan: Indian & Cowboy Digital
In 2015, Canada changed forever.
The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's work was handed over to the people; from there, we were to decide what came next. The report called for transformative change. A renewed focus on building equitable relationships in the world of government, inside our institutions, and inside our businesses. We had a mountain to climb then, no one would have guessed how gassed we were to become of not just the reconciliation project, but of each other.
Echo chambers.
Empty promises dressed up like land acknowledgements.
Inclusion with a reset in power.
We’re ten years in on the reconciliation project in Canada, and we are stuck.
If, as Prime Minister Mark Carney says, Canada’s next decade is to be the “Build Baby Build” era, then Indigenous peoples must be front and centre in those negotiations, in policy-setting, and in the media.
Because the stories we tell over the next ten years will shape the kind of country we become. This time, it’s critical that we do it right so that we build better. After 157 years of missteps and half-truths, we have a chance to learn from what we broke and to do something lasting in return.
For Indian & Cowboy Digital, this turn toward the truth isn’t a trend. It’s a return.
Across Turtle Island and beyond, nations are reckoning with their histories. There are truths that demand careful handling, human context, and witnesses willing to listen.
Documentary, podcasting, and other factual forms of storytelling are the quickest, most direct way to bring those truths into the world.
At Indian & Cowboy Digital, we build our work around that belief.
These mediums allow us to place Indigenous experience at the center of national and global conversations, not at the margins.
As awards, audiences, and markets shift toward authenticity, we see an opportunity to ensure that Indigenous voices lead this movement.
Every frame, every interview, every cut can carry something bigger than information: it can carry relationship and responsibility.
This winter, we begin the next chapter.
In December 2025, Indian & Cowboy Creative Media Inc. will launch a capital raise of $500,000 — a two-year runway to expand our digital storytelling platform and bring our podcasts, documentaries, and educational media offerings to the world.
This funding will help us strengthen the backbone of Indian & Cowboy Digital — building the infrastructure, partnerships, and creative capacity needed to deliver Indigenous-led stories across platforms.
We’re building this for the next decade, and for the generations who will inherit it. Because when the systems fail, we don’t wait for them to recover. We build something better.
The journey continues.
Thanks for reading.
