Maureen Googoo

Maureen Googoo is a Mi'kmaw journalist and businesswoman from Indian Brook First Nation, Nova Scotia. Googoo is the owner and editor of the independent news website Ku'ku'kwes News, which is focused on Indigenous communities in Atlantic Canada.

Prior to founding Ku'ku'kwes News in 2015, Googoo worked in journalism for 20 years. The Telegram reported that she became "the first Indigenous reporter to work in mainstream media in the Maritimes" when she interned at CBC Radio in the early 1990s. She is a member of the Sipekne'katik Band in Nova Scotia. The experience soon led to an interest in reporting on Indigenous news for Indigenous people. At the CBC, she found that editors did not view that news stories from her local community, Indian Brook, would appeal to a general audience. She recalled having to continue to push back on accusations of impartiality when she tried reporting Indigenous news. Footage filmed by Googoo of Innu youth inhaling gasoline was run on national television by the CTV weeks after prime minister Jean Chrétien's victory in the 2000 Canadian federal election. Innu leaders subsequently spoke with Chrétien, who said that he would help the Innu community of Sheshatshiu, Newfoundland and Labrador. By 2002, she led APTN's Halifax bureau, and ultimately worked for the organisation for six and a half years. after which she began pursuing independent work.

Ku'ku'kwes News In 2015, Googoo founded the news website Ku'ku'kwes News (located at Kukukwes.com), which is focused on Indigenous communities in Atlantic Canada. By the following year, she worked on the website with photographer Stephen Brake, her husband. As a result of the coverage, the website repeatedly shut down due to increased web traffic and she almost met her 4000$ monthly crowdfunding goal for the website after funding significantly increased. Her website in 2023 reported on the 54 Mi'kmaq fisherman in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick who had been facing charges or undergoing trial.

In 2023, Indigenous media organisations including Ku'ku'kwes News were impacted after Canadian news content was blocked on the social media websites Facebook and Instagram by their owner Meta in response to the Online News Act.

Indigenous Media Association of Canada In early 2025, Googoo became interim vice-president of the Indigenous Media Association of Canada (IMAC), a trade group of Indigenous journalists, at the organisation's incorporation. In an interview with CBC News, she stated that the group was formed so that Indigenous media organisations could have "an equal seat at that table."