The Dalhousie Gazette Style Guide

The Gazette follows the Canadian Press Stylebook. Key points specific to our paper are listed in this guide, but we encourage all writers pursuing journalism to pick up a CP Stylebook and CP Caps and Spelling.

Spelling

Can’t figure out the correct spelling of a word? First, check the Gazette’s Style Guide, the CP Stylebook and CP Caps and Spelling. If you can’t find your word there, check the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Generally though, we use British spellings, not American ones.

This is a student paper, not a den for criminals

Libel is a crime. Libel is any published material, whether directly stated or insinuated, that damages a person’s reputation. We will not print unnecessarily offensive content, including opinion pieces and quotes. Editors will draw the line between controversial and offensive. Truth is a defence against libel, so if we print it, it better be true.

Don’t steal

Plagiarism means passing off someone else’s work as your own – a dishonest practice with no place in journalism. All facts in stories must be attributed to a named source, unless the information is common knowledge, such as “Dalhousie University is in Nova Scotia.” Hyperlink your online sources.

Don’t copy and paste anything into a story

If it’s not your own work, don’t use it. Slightly rewording sentences doesn’t count. If you’re using a quote or other information from an interview conducted by another staff member or contributor, write “With files from___” at the end of the article.

If a writer submits a story containing plagiarism, editors will not accept subsequent stories from the writer.

So just don’t do it.

We’re in control of the stories we print

Never allow any source to see stories before they are published. Instead, read their quotes or complicated information back to them during an interview to make sure you’ve got it right. Making third parties privy to articles before publication undermines the independence and freedom of our newspaper.

Don’t play favourites

Never promise coverage – or worse, favourable coverage – to any individual or organization.

Don’t interview your friends. It’s impossible to be completely objective, but we need to steer clear of anything that might appear as a conflict of interest.

General editing tips

Taunted by the blinking line in a Word document, blank pages turn into hours. Potential writers wither under the mounting pressure. “How on earth do I start this piece!?” they cry to the heavens, or the drop ceiling of their basement apartment, whichever is closer.

The first one or two sentences in a story are important

Your lede should both attract attention and give readers a good idea of what they’ll be reading about. Ledes are usually the most newsworthy part of a story and only 35 words max.

Quotes and questions don’t make good ledes.

A lede must answer a main question of the story and intrigue readers. It does not need to contain all the details.

Not: City council voted to increase the maintenance budget for water mains in the HRM after the dramatic pizza corner water main rupture at pizza corner on Saturday morning.

But: Water bills in Halifax are going up. 

Place killer quotes high in the story

They keep the reader involved and give a voice to your story. 

Screw “that”

The word “that” on its own can almost always be removed. Hit Ctrl + F to search for the word in your article. Betcha all but one can be deleted.

Don’t use clichés!

Chances are if you’ve heard the phrase before, it’s a cliché. Clichés are b o r i n g.

Use profanity in moderation

When necessary, we’ll print fuck and shit and the dirty like. Not f-word, *&@! or s—t. But too much swearing and we’re less like an edgy student publication and more like an annoying three-year-old who’s just learned a new word. Use good judgment.

Use an active voice

Passive writing is dull, lazy and often leaves out information. Section editors should ask writers for any missing facts.

Not: The report was written by officials in the biology department.

But: Mike Gray, head of Dal’s biochemistry and molecular biology department, wrote the report. 

Use only one space between sentences

Your spacebar will thank you.

Capitalize only the first letter of the first word in a headline

I Don’t Care If You Think It Looks Better Like This.

Show – don’t tell – your story

Be specific: How does your story sound? Look? Feel?

In the words of the CP Stylebook, “Paint word pictures:

Not: the accused were overjoyed.

But: The accused kissed and hugged each other.”

Cut the fluff

Ditch long words and superfluous wording (yes, like the word superfluous) in favour of short, everyday language that’s both palpable and easy to understand.

Make sentences as tight as possible by getting rid of unnecessary words. Stick to one idea per sentence, and aim for about 30 words. Too many ideas in one sentence is messy.

Then/that/which/very etc. are fluffer words used to “soften” whatever it is the writer is writing. They can be cut out. They waste word count, too.

Not: Then the reporters when to a council meeting, which made it a very long day.

But: The reporters went to a council meeting. It was a long day.

Adverbs

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs” – Stephen King in On Writing.

In theory, adverbs are used to describe a verb. In reality, adverbs make for clunky writing. They tell instead of show. And they’re boring. Instead of modifying the verb, describe how it’s happening.

Not: My cat impatiently waits to go outside.

But: My cat claws at the door frame waiting to get outside.

Not: John sings loudly in the shower.

But: John screams “so call me maybe,” into his hairbrush in the shower.

Gazette-specific style

Most students seek a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree, not a Bachelor’s Degree or a Master’s. A few of them will earn PhDs.

Note: You can write BA, BSc, MA, etc. if you’re listing the names and degrees of several people.

Write first-year, second-year, etc. when using the phrase as an adjective.

E.g. Ortega is a first-year student. (You can also write “Ortega is in her first year.” No hyphen.)

We write international development major instead of IDS major.

Dalhousie Student Union on first reference – or Dal Student Union on first reference if the word “Dalhousie” has already been mentioned in the story – and DSU in all subsequent references.

DSU positions

E.g. Cory Larsen, DSU vice-president (Student Life), . . .

or, less often, like this:

E.g. DSU VP (Internal) Alex Hughes. . .

No honourifics

No Mr., Ms., Mrs., etc.  Only a medical doctor is referred to as Dr. John Doe on first reference and Doe on all subsequent references. People with PhDs are just like everybody else.

Use people’s full names on first reference

On second reference, use only the person’s last name. The exception is if two people in a story have the same last name.

Use Dalhousie University on first reference

Dal, the university, Dalhousie etc. are all acceptable after first reference.

Quotes

Quotes should express emotion, not relay facts. If you can paraphrase better than how they said it, don’t quote! Quotes should rarely include numbers or detailed information. And don’t set up a quote by paraphrasing it. It’s nauseatingly repetitive, and it makes the source sound like a parrot.

Not: Dal spokesperson Charles Crosby said more and more students are choosing this university.

“Two years ago we had 14,000 students. Last year we had 14,500, and this year we have almost 16,000,” he said. “More and more students are choosing to enrol at Dal, and we expect that trend to continue.”

(Cue disappointing buzzer sound.)

But: More than 1,000 new students have enroled at Dal over the past year, said university spokesperson Charles Crosby.

“More and more students are choosing to enrol at Dal,” he said. “We expect that trend to continue.”

Always introduce the speaker

Imagine a stranger suddenly talking to you without telling you who he is. That’s weird. In writing, always introduce a person you’re quoting.

E.g. “There were always students raising their hands, but they just walked by and passed over, over and over again,” said Jamal St. Lewis, a fifth-year management student who was at the community meeting.

Broken up quote method

Rather than appearing as a huge block of words, quotes separated at the natural punctuation mark are easier for readers to digest.

E.g. “There isn’t a simple solution to this in terms of policy,” said Florizone. “That’s exactly why we’re taking the approach we are tonight [at the community meeting.]”

Partial quote

E.g. He said the argument was “remarkably bitter.”

Paraphrase

Quoting a person’s exact words isn’t always necessary. Rephrase a quote in your own words to convey the same meaning.

Pronouns

Pronouns are not “preferred.” They are a person’s gender identifier. They/them (and any other pronouns people use!) aren’t hard to write around; they’re not confusing if you’re a good writer or have a good editor.

It’s helpful to get your source to introduce themselves using name, title and pronouns at the beginning of an interview. If it’s a pronoun you’ve come across that you don’t understand (e.g. ze, sie, co, hir or ey) – ask them how they use it. It’s your job to get this right.

Note: When someone uses they/them as pronouns, verbs are conjugated the same as with plural “they.”

E.g. “They are an up-and-coming singer, and their new album is coming out in March. We spoke to them about their music.” 

“You” have no place in a story

Neither does “I.” Stories for all sections except opinions should always be in third-person. Don’t use generalized assumptions involving “you.” Don’t try to use “students” as a substitute for “you,” either.

Not: Finding a girlfriend is hard if you’re a computer science student.

But: Computer scientists have a hard time finding a girlfriend.

Not: Most students think Dalhousie President Tom Traves doesn’t care about them, but in last month’s Dal News, Traves was quoted as saying he does.

But: Dalhousie President Tom Traves said he cares about students in last month’s Dal News, but raising the price of coffee on campus indicates he does not.

Eliminating generalizations forces writers to carefully consider what’s most important and unique to their stories.

He says, she says

Always use “says” – or, “said” when referring to a past event and writing a hard news story.

Every other word describing speech is too opinionated. No stated, noted, admitted, confessed, etc. It may seem repetitive to the writer, but readers won’t notice. And no “thoughts” – you don’t know what they thought, only what they said.

Punctuation

All punctuation goes inside quotes, like this:

“Of course everyone loves me,” Boyle says. “I have a Scottish accent and I wear kilts.”

Em dashes (–) are for special emphasis or to add extra information. If the sentence isn’t complete without the information between two em dashes, you are using it incorrectly.

E.g. She stayed up all night to finish her essay – then her computer crashed.

Semicolons (;) only make sense between two independent clauses or before a conjunction.

E.g. Tuition fees for all Nova Scotia students are currently frozen at last year’s levels; however, N.S. university tuition is the highest in the country.

If you don’t know how to use them, sprinkling semicolons into sentences won’t make you look smart.

Ellipses (. . .) are three spaced periods. They indicate part of a quote has been left out. Never use ellipses to indicate pauses in speech. Use them only when absolutely necessary because they can make writing look sloppy and can cause readers to wonder what information is missing. Use the broken up quote method as an alternative.

Not: “The water was wet . . . and that’s why we stayed out of it.”

But: “The water was wet,” she said. “That’s why we stayed out of it.”

Use only square brackets [] when clarifying quotes, and do so sparingly. Just because you put brackets in to clarify a quote doesn’t mean you can add anything you want in there.

Not: “We don’t want [students] to be alarmed [that the crooked administration is actually pocketing half of their tuition fees],” said Dal spokesperson Charles Crosby.

(Yes, that example was libellous.)

But: “We don’t want [students] to be alarmed,” said Dal spokesperson Charles Crosby.

Hyphens (-) are often overused. Any word ending in -ly doesn’t need a hyphen afterward.

E.g. Dalhousie is trying to implement more environmentally friendly policies. (There’s no hyphen after “environmentally” or “friendly.”)

From the CP Stylebook, hyphens are used to “write words as compounds to ease reading, to avoid ambiguity, and to join words that when used together form a separate concept.”

E.g. Three-year-old, 19-year-old, etc.

E.g. E-mail, vice-president, etc.

Commas (,) are slippery suckers, do not use commas between two sentences that make sense on their own. Like I just did. No comma splices in quotes, either. They still count!

Not: “I thought I could do it, I really did.”

But: “I thought I could do it. I really did.”

Avoid the Oxford comma (the comma after “and” in a list) unless it’s needed for clarity.

E.g. I’m taking English, math and science.

There is a comma before which, and no comma before that.

E.g. I’m taking a journalism class, which isn’t as beneficial as working at a newspaper.

E.g. I’ve taken a journalism class that wasn’t as beneficial as working at a newspaper.

Acronyms and abbreviations

Writers should avoid acronyms and abbreviations unless they are commonly used and easily understood. Even then, they should only appear on second reference, after the mention of a full name, and should rarely, if ever, appear in a story’s lede.

If you want to use an acronym or abbreviation, always put it in brackets after the full name.

E.g. The Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA) is preparing to strike.

But using phrases such as “the centre” or “the association” rather than an acronym is often less confusing.

Note: Some acronyms and abbreviations, like NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), are common knowledge and OK to use on first reference. 

Never make up your own acronyms or abbreviations. Who do you think you are?

Common acronyms and abbreviations

  • Use Dalhousie University on first reference, then Dalhousie or Dal on every subsequent reference
  • Same goes for University of King’s College and King’s.
  • Dalhousie Student Union (DSU)
  • King’s Students’ Union – note apostrophe placements! – (KSU)
  • Student Union Building (SUB)
  • The Dalhousie Gazette on first reference, then the Gazette on subsequent references

BIPOC

It means Black, Indigenous and people of colour. It is not a substitute for minority or diversity.

Not: BIPOC dancers collected themselves while pressed together in the tiny waiting room before the auditions.

(Using BIPOC as an adjective, like above, sounds like your racist grandmother using the phrase “coloured folks.” They are not “BIPOC folks.” They’re BIPOC.)

But: Black, Indigenous and writers of colour gravitated toward each other at #NASH81.

Another example: BIPOC in Halifax are tired of street checks.

Provinces, countries and streets

Provincial abbreviations are used only when they come directly after a city name. Otherwise, write the whole damn word.

Here’s the full list:

Yukon, N.W.T., Nunavut, B.C., Alta., Sask., Man., Ont., Que., Nfld., N.B., N.S., P.E.I.

Countries are abbreviated with periods, such as U.S. and U.K.

Note: Organizations often don’t get periods — the UN, NATO, WTO, etc.

Only abbreviate street names when including the full address.

E.g. 6350 Coburg Rd.

But, don’t forget! He lives on Coburg Road.

Numbers

One to nine are written in full, and 10 and up are written numerically, unless the number starts a sentence.

E.g. Twenty students attended the conference.

First to ninth, but 10th and up.

Use “$” instead of “dollars.”

$1.50, not one dollar and fifty cents.

Not: The campus makeover will cost 25 million dollars.

But: The campus makeover will cost $25 million

Percentages

Write three per cent, 10 per cent, 100 per cent, 6.5 per cent. Not percent or %!

Decades

I was born in the 1980s. Not 80s or 1980’s.

It’s ’70s not 70s.

Metric symbols

We use the metric system, so convert miles to kilometres, pounds to kilograms, etc. (On second reference use cm, m, or km.) The only exception is in height measurements:

E.g. Dal’s star basketball player is six-foot-three.

Dates

Weekdays

Write out the full word (Monday, Tuesday, etc.). We prefer exact dates rather than just referring to a weekday because the Gazette publishes every two weeks.

Months

Write out the full word (March, April, May, etc.). They’re only abbreviated when they precede a date.

E.g. The class runs from September to December.

E.g. The Superfantastics played at The Marquee on Oct. 21. (Not Oct. 21st!)

Some months are never abbreviated. Here’s the full list:

Jan., Feb., March, April, May, June, July, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec.

Times

9 a.m.

9:30 p.m.

Four o’clock in the morning (use rarely)

Do not write phrases such as “9 p.m. at night.” It’s redundant and sounds ridiculous.

Capitalization

The word “university” is not capitalized unless it is part of a proper noun, like “Dalhousie University.”

School subjects are not capitalized unless they are languages.

E.g. Dal doesn’t have a journalism program.

E.g. The French department is accepting student exchange applications.

Internet is capitalized. But website and online aren’t.

Only the first letter of the first word in a headline should be capitalized.

Titles

A person’s title is only capitalized if it comes directly before their name.

E.g. Previous Dalhousie President Richard Florizone. . .

E.g. Peter MacKinnon, the interim president of Dalhousie, . . .

E.g. Provost and Vice President (Academic) Teresa C. Balser said . . .

Or: Balser began acting as the provost and vice president (academic) in . . .

Dalhousie Student Union formats:

E.g. DSU President Aaron Prosper. . .

E.g. Vice President (student life) Cory Larsen. . .

Or: Cory Larsen, VP (student life). . .

Books, movies, albums, television shows and publication titles

Use italics.

The Canadian Press is primarily a wire service (not a publication), and therefore is not italicized.

E.g. The Dalhousie Gazette

E.g. The Catcher in the Rye

E.g. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Song titles

Put them in quotation marks.

E.g. “Notes From The Road” by Beppe Gambetta

Common Canadian spellings:

Labour, colour, honour, centre, metre, neighbour, theatre, levelled, travelled, counselled, etc.

Gazette Sports style:

Capitalizations

Capitalize names of different national championship events. But if you’re just using the words “national championships,” don’t capitalize.

E.g. Final 8 or the University Cup

Game score

When writing the game score, never spell out the numbers.

Not: The score was three to two.

But: The score was 3-2.

Gender

Different names depending on gender.

E.g. Men: defenceman/men.

Women: denfencewoman/women. Or just use defender.

E.g. Men: Acadia Axemen and StFX X-Men

Women: Acadia Axewomen and StFX X-Women.

In hockey, it’s: too many players on the ice penalty. Not “too many men.”

Jargon

Use sports terminology but not jargon.

Not: Crosby skated past a bender and sniped a geno past the tendy.

But: Crosby skated past the defender and shot the puck past the goaltender’s blocker for the game’s first goal.

(Sniped is fine to use if it was a perfect shot.)

Measurement

Use the measurement the sport uses.

E.g. In football, use yards instead of metres.

Possessive

When writing the Dal Tigers in a possessive, write Tigers’. To make it easier, you can also write Dal’s [insert team writing about].

Soccer

It’s soccer pitch not the soccer ‘field.’ Also, soccer has keepers, not goalies.

Team records

When citing a team record, explain how that record is written to show how the numbers work. Then you can write subsequent records with just using the numbers.

E.g. The Dal women’s hockey team has a record of 10 wins, nine losses and one overtime loss (10-9-1) while Saint Mary’s has a record of 15-3-1.

Terminology

Don’t use abbreviations for terminology.

E.g. Write right wing instead of RW. Power play instead of PP and field goal instead of FG.

Time

Write times like you would see them on the game clock. It’s easier to understand.

Not: “three minutes and 24 seconds”

But: “3:24”

Same thing with race time:

Not: The swimmer lost by 8/10ths of a second.

But: The swimmer lost by 0.8 seconds.

Team names

On first reference, write out the full university and team name, even if it’s a mouthful. Abbreviations/acronyms are fine on second reference, though.

E.g. Université de Moncton

Don’t be lazy and only refer to the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus as Moncton, UdeM or University of Moncton Blue Eagles. Respect the French language and name it as it is.

U Sports

It’s the governing organization of university sports in Canada. Write U Sports.

E-sports

Write e-sports.

Gazette Opinions style

It is sometimes OK in opinion writing to play with the rules of grammar. The intent of an opinion piece is to speak directly to readers. So in some cases, you can use punctuation in a way that mimics the rhythm of someone speaking out loud (or at a bar).

Every opinion has a weakness

Acknowledging and addressing the weakness of an argument makes the piece stronger.

Take yourself out of your piece

Unless it’s a unique experience, throwing yourself into the story too much will turn people away. If necessary to insert yourself, limit the I, me, my to three. Total. Write around it. We know it’s your opinion. It is, after all, an opinion piece.

Not: I don’t have a hard time writing opinion pieces. My time management skills ensure that I can get pieces in on time at the right word count.

But: Opinion pieces can be hard to write. Time management is essential to get pieces in on time. Without that skill, the deadline sneaks up, and pieces are late.

Making an argument doesn’t mean telling people what to do. Don’t single people out when trying to change their mind.

Not: You need to write your politician because Canada’s national anthem should be changed.

But: MPs’ phones need to be ringing off the hook. Canada’s national anthem needs to change. Here are the reasons why: . . .

Like all articles, opinion pieces need a compelling lede. It doesn’t matter how good your opinion is if people can’t get past the intro.

Ledes for this section work well when you play with people’s expectations. Give a recognizable scene (aka the thing you are writing about), and then take a turn.

Turns in opinion writing are generally one of three:

  • Familiar lede that makes readers feel safe, with a turn into how the common opinion is wrong
  • Familiar argument, different framing
  • Familiar story, new implication

Gazette Visuals Style 

Whose photo can I take?

It’s legal to take anyone’s photo on public property. But as a general Gazette rule, we ask before and after taking someone’s photo for permission to publish.

Get their name and contact information.

The Criminal Code provides for punishment of various offences, including voyeurism, trespassing at night and paparazzi behaviour.

How to get photos:

For stock/reusable imagery, go to Google Images > Search Tools > Labelled for reuse

OR

visit unsplash.com and credit listed photographers!

We always prefer original photos. When possible, take photos on a DSLR or with a mobile phone under good lighting.

What the Gazette is looking for:

  • Photos should be shot horizontally by default. Vertical photos are still usable, but less workable.
  • Write a cutline:
    • Who is in the photo? When was it taken? What is happening in the photo? Always credit the photographer in print and online.

Editor’s notes on style and reporting

Editor’s notes

An editor’s note in a story is exactly that, a note by an editor. It usually contains a bit of contextual information or as a method of transparency in the reporting methods. It may explain why information was or wasn’t included, content warnings, to disclose the level of credibility of a source or explain the reasoning behind reportorial and/or editorial decisions – all of which have nothing to do with the storytelling of the article, otherwise, we’d just write it into the story.

Editor’s notes are usually placed at the top of the article, so the reader is aware of the note while reading the story.

E.g. Editor’s note: Matt Stickland has been in the military for 10 years and deployed to Libya in 2011 on HMCS CHARLOTTETOWN. 

E.g. Editor’s note: The name of the person in this story has been changed to protect their identity.

Reporting on suicide

People do not commit suicide. This is a holdover from when suicide was considered a crime. People die by suicide or take their own life. Do not use positive terminology like, saying a “suicide was successful.”

We don’t include detailed descriptions of the method and don’t speculate on the motive. There is rarely one factor or a simple explanation.

Reporting on communities outside your own

Don’t be lazy. Bottom line. When you’re white reporting on Black people, cis and heteronormative reporting on LGBTQ2S+ or abled and reporting on accessibility you need to reserve more time for yourself in researching your story prior to interviews and writing – and then more time thinking about the language you use when writing your story.

Diversity has become the catch-all word referring to anyone who’s not white, cis-male, hetero, able-bodied or straight. It can be useful when used as an umbrella term, but we’re often talking about specific, oppressed demographics. So be specific (which is always more accurate).

E.g. If we are talking about trans issues, write trans. Don’t just tuck it under the (technically correct, but erases specificity of trans issues) umbrella abbreviation LGBTQ2S+.

Minority is another lazy word writers and editors use when talking about specific demographics but don’t actually want to name the demographic they’re talking about.

Just don’t use it. If you’re compelled to use “minority,” think about what group you’re writing about and use that specific term instead.

A note on capitalization

We capitalize the proper names of nationalities and peoples: Indigenous Peoples, South Asian, Chinese, Cree, Inuit, etc. We capitalize Black (when referring to race) but not white or brown.

This a contentious subject, but our thinking is similar to the Columbia Journalism Review: “For many people, Black reflects a shared sense of identity and community. White carries a different set of meanings; capitalizing the word in this context risks following the lead of white supremacists.” The word brown can refer to several different peoples — it doesn’t carry the same sense of a specific shared identity as the word Black does.

If you disagree with this, email us, or better yet, write an opinion piece about it!

Cultural sensitivity

When writing, be aware of how your perspective is informed by your own cultural background.

Don’t use the word “exotic” to refer to work from a culture other than your own. Be specific about the style or content of the work.

Not: The music had an exotic Middle Eastern sound.

But: One of the backup musicians played an oud, a lute-like Persian instrument with a haunting, echoing sound.

Be aware of stereotypes and words that could be hurtful or have insulting connotations.

When interviewing, ask your subject(s) what words they’d use to identify themselves so that you can quote them directly using the correct language. People’s preferences and identities vary widely.

Don’t use language that fetishizes or appropriates from other groups.

Consider cultural appropriation: The unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.

E.g. If you mean “bohemian” or “nomadic,” avoid using “gypsy” (considered a derogatory term for Roma/Romani people). 

Indigenous populations

The media has time and time again broken trust with Indigenous Peoples and communities. So be respectful, build relationships and get it right.

When reporting on a specific nation or community, use that specific nation and/or community name. It’s accurate and tackles the pan-Indian myth of all Indigenous Peoples in Canada being the same or relatively similar.

Not: Indigenous Peoples are protesting against the construction of a pipeline.
But: Members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation are protesting against the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Useful terminology for reporting on Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous Peoples: An umbrella term encompassing all First Nations, Métis and Inuit who live in Canada.

First Nations: The First Nation can refer to membership of a First Nation.

E.g. She is a member of Eskasoni First Nation.

It can also refer to the geographical location a First Nation is based on (though there are First Nations without a home base due to the forced removal of many Indigenous Peoples from their traditional territories).

E.g. Nestled alongside the beautiful Bras d’Or Lake in Eastern Cape Breton Island, Eskasoni First Nation is the largest Mi’kmaq community in the world.

It can also refer to a nation of people encompassing multiple smaller nations within it.

E.g. There are only two First Nations in Nova Scotia: Mi’kmaq First Nation and Maliseet First Nation.

Métis: The Métis are their own nation with their own traditions, cultures, myths, language(s), geographical land ties and histories. Being Métis doesn’t mean someone is mixed with any native culture. Being of Mi’kmaq and Scottish settler heritage doesn’t make a person Métis. It makes them Mi’kmaq.

Inuit: The Inuit are geographically spread out around the circumpolar north. They are divided into eight smaller ethnic groups with five different dialects of Inuktitut.

Not: The majority of the Inuit people live along the Arctic coastal regions of what is currently known as Canada.
But: The majority of the Inuit live along the Arctic coastal regions of what is currently known as Canada. 

Not: Canada’s Indigenous Peoples are calling on the federal government. . .
But: Indigenous Peoples in Canada are calling on the federal government to. . .

Correcting mistakes in articles

We always own up to our mistakes when we make them and issue statements of apology when necessary. Corrections are made online with a disclaimer line at the bottom of the article to ensure we are transparent of our corrections.

E.g.  The original story incorrectly stated that all members of the DSU voted in favour of the Canada 150 motion. We apologize for the mistake and have updated the story.

Reporting Resources

Finally, and most importantly: Write for your reader and not for yourself.