Some 60 speakers among nearly 200 participants offered ample evidence of the sharp intelligence, humor, poise and cultural distinctiveness among professionals and observers of the Native world - giving the lie to the claim of too many television producers and newspaper editors that such voices are hard to find and thus impossible to produce or publish.
~ Editorial, Indian Country Today, 3/10/06
Kim Baca, interim Executive Director of the
Native American Journalists Association
Photo: Jay Mallin
The absence of U.S. media coverage about Native American communities means that Indian Country today is a mystery to most people. While there are rampant stereotypes, realities and cultural strengths remain hidden.
This conversation about Indian Country brought together Native American leaders, members of Congress, journalists, academics, religious organizations, and other opinion leaders with a goal of engaging more people with issues affecting indigenous peoples in the United States.
Speakers included Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer; John Mohawk, a Native philosopher and thinker of the first rank; Mark Trahant, a Native journalist who is editorial page editor of a mainstream newspaper; Rep. Tom Cole, the only Native American member of Congress; and Robert Lichter, the President of the Center for Media and Public Affairs. See the complete list of speakers.
The report from the Media Symposium is now available. Find out more by e-mailing
or by calling FCNL's office at 202-547-6000. (Toll Free 800-630-1330)
The Media Symposium report is also available to read online in PDF  format. |
Participants at the media symposium
Photo: Rick Reinhart
This symposium will feature the lived experience of Native Americans today. Because race has played a pivotal position in American history, I am interested in how we cohere as a people. One way is by sharing our individual and collective narratives and bringing them to public attention through the media.
~ Ken Burns, producer, PBS documentary "The West" |
Cosponsors
Friends Committee on National Legislation (conference coordinator)
American Indian Policy and Media Initiative
Americans for Indian Opportunity
American Friends Service Committee
Call to Renewal
First Nations Development Institute
Honor Our Neighbors’ Origins and Rights (HONOR)
Institute for Tribal Government
The Interfaith Alliance
National American Indian Housing Council
National Congress of American Indians
National Council of Churches
National Council on Urban Indian Health
National Indian Child Welfare Association
National Indian Council on Aging
National Indian Education Association
National Indian Health Board
National Native American Families Together
National Urban Indian Family Coalition
Native American Journalists Association
Native American Rights Fund
Navajo Nation Washington Office
The Union for Reform Judaism
We have criminally little to do with Indian Country… Our coverage is wildly inadequate.
~Steve Coll, The Washington Post
See a recent update on newspaper articles on Native Americans (PDF)
|
