Foster a sense of real place – avoid just showing a location

The document advises media to avoid generic 'location' labels and tourist-centric 'spectacular sites' when depicting Indigenous lands. Instead, it advocates for imagery grounded in a community's familiar understanding of their land, focusing on everyday life and the material, sensory, and experiential details that convey deeper meaning and cosmology.

• Media should avoid using the generic term 'location' and focusing on a general sense of 'the local', as this can perpetuate shallow global narratives. Instead, imagery should be grounded in a community's own consciousness of their land, focusing on everyday life within specific Indigenous Territories or land reclamation movements rather than dramatic events.
• To effectively communicate the meaning of a place, media should prioritize material, sensory, and experiential details over purely factual information. This involves using images of identifiable natural environments—such as riverbanks, trees, or small waterfalls—to emphasize intimacy and familiarity, while avoiding 'spectacular sites' that cater to tourist expectations and make the place seem exotic or distant.

APA

Climate Outreach (2021). Foster a sense of real place – avoid just showing a location. https://climateoutreach.org/principles-indigenous-media-presence/foster-sense-place/

Chicago

Climate Outreach. Foster a sense of real place – avoid just showing a location. 2021. https://climateoutreach.org/principles-indigenous-media-presence/foster-sense-place/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Outreach |title=Foster a sense of real place – avoid just showing a location |date=12 August 2021 |url=https://climateoutreach.org/principles-indigenous-media-presence/foster-sense-place/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateoutreach2021foster, author = {{Climate Outreach}}, title = {{Foster a sense of real place – avoid just showing a location}}, institution = {Climate Outreach}, year = {2021}, month = aug, url = {https://climateoutreach.org/principles-indigenous-media-presence/foster-sense-place/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }