{"id":36435,"date":"2023-08-26T05:20:35","date_gmt":"2023-08-26T10:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/buffalos-fire-publisher-honored-with-tim-giago-free-press-award\/"},"modified":"2023-08-26T05:20:41","modified_gmt":"2023-08-26T10:20:41","slug":"buffalos-fire-publisher-honored-with-tim-giago-free-press-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/buffalos-fire-publisher-honored-with-tim-giago-free-press-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Buffalo\u2019s Fire publisher honored with Tim Giago Free Press Award"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, online publisher of Buffalo\u2019s Fire, addresses about 400 Canadian and U.S. journalists on Aug. 12 during her acceptance speech of the inaugural Tim Giago Free Press Award. The awards banquet took place during the 40th Annual National Native Media Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba. PHOTO\/Indigenous Journalists Association<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tim Giago, journalist and media entrepreneur, left a great legacy in journalism as a founder of the Native American Journalists Association and later as founder of the first independent weekly newspaper in Indian Country.<\/p>\n

I was honored to receive the inaugural Tim Giago Free Press Award on Saturday, Aug. 12, during the 40th<\/sup>\u00a0Annual National Native Media Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It\u2019s visionary leaders like Tim who inspire people like myself to do more for the well-being of our communities through journalism.<\/p>\n

Buffalo\u2019s Fire, an independent online news publication, is the newspaper arm of the\u00a0Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance<\/a>, a nonprofit media organization that envisions a world where democracy thrives for Indigenous people through an independent press.<\/p>\n

The IMFA\u2019s mission is to improve the civil liberties of Indigenous people through research, media advocacy, and nation-building. Our current work is focused on the aspect of nation building that strengthens tribal sovereignty. The revered American Indian legal scholar Vine Deloria Jr. has written extensively on the three pillars of tribal sovereignty.<\/p>\n

On the Stage<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was thankful to share some words about Tim, an Oglala Lakota, when I was called to the stage to accept the Free Press award during the awards banquet. About 400 Canadian and U.S. journalists were in attendance for the awards ceremony at the Delta Hotel.<\/p>\n

Prior to the awards, members voted to change the name of the Native American Journalists Association to the\u00a0Indigenous Journalists Association<\/a>, so future references will refer to the new IJA acronym.<\/p>\n

We started the evening with a moment of silence to commemorate the first year of Tim\u2019s death. On July 14, I attended his memorial in Rapid City, S.D. His family gifted me with a star quilt and said he would be proud to see me receive the inaugural Free Press Award from IJA.<\/p>\n

We all know Tim tried to retire several times, but he could never stop writing. He wrote until the final months of his life and only stopped when he was too sick to write. Tim left an empty seat in his newsroom, but his fourth weekly independent newspaper, the Native Sun News Today, and his legacy live on.<\/p>\n

I count Tim as one of the significant Native media role models in my early life. I grew up seeing two astounding American Indian journalists when I was a young woman growing up in North Dakota. Tim Giago and\u00a0Harriett Skye<\/a><\/u>\u00a0were trailblazers in the media. It wasn\u2019t until I was much older that I realized how significant their work was and how it influenced me to become a journalist.<\/p>\n

Tim was the founder of Indian Country Today, now known as ICT. He was an exemplary newsman who gave people a voice in his newspaper. As an independent newspaper publisher, he also used his media role to hold tribal government leaders accountable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, was awarded the inaugural Tim Giago Free Press Award during the 40th Annual National Native Media Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba. PHOTO\/Jodi Rave Spotted Bear<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Third Pillar of Tribal Sovereignty<\/strong><\/p>\n

The latter role can be challenging for any reporter who wants to report on tribal governments. That\u2019s because holding tribal leaders accountable falls into an overlooked pillar of tribal sovereignty, an obvious pillar that typically falls by the wayside of elected leaders.<\/p>\n

Deloria outlines the three pillars of tribal sovereignty as self-determination, followed by a second pillar that calls for us to protect our sacred places and spaces. The third pillar implores tribal leaders to act in accordance with the will of the people.<\/p>\n

This is the most overlooked pillar, and this is where Indigenous journalists in Canada and the United States play critical roles in improving the quality of life for our people. We amplify and reflect our community voices so our elected leaders can act according to the people\u2019s will.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this arm of reporting that can be most difficult for reporters covering tribal government. Reservation-based newspapers are often beholden to tribal governments for funding, office space, editorial oversight, and advertising dollars. I worked for tribal media as a teenager and as an adult.<\/p>\n

FOI for Indian Country<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also worked for the mainstream press in Nebraska, Idaho, Utah, and Montana. I always knew I would return to my ancestral homelands in North Dakota. When I moved home to the Fort Berthold Reservation, I became the director of our tribe\u2019s radio and newspaper.<\/p>\n

Working within the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, I knew there was a lot of information being kept from me and tribal citizens. I had several disagreements with tribal leadership. They ranged from budget reporting to being denied requests for media packets of tribal council agenda items.<\/p>\n

After being fired for \u201cinsubordination,\u201d I knew more had to be done to not only reflect the views of the tribe\u2019s citizens but to hold the tribal government accountable. The recent release of the\u00a0\u201cBad Press\u201d documentary<\/a><\/u>\u00a0\u2013 a film about the Muscogee Nation\u2019s censoring the tribe\u2019s newspaper \u2014 beautifully highlights press freedom challenges in Indian Country.<\/p>\n

The documentary reminds us that only 5 of 574 federally-recognized tribes have press freedom protections written into their tribal governance structures. Elected leaders across the country must do more to be accountable to our citizens. Journalists and the public need open records.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mission is to improve the civil liberties of Indigenous people through research, advocacy, and nation-building. Our current work is focused on the aspect of nation-building that strengthens tribal sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, Founder of Buffalo\u2019s Fire and IMFA<\/em><\/p>\n

Our tribal communities lack access to tribal freedom of information protections, unlike existing federal FOIA and state laws.<\/p>\n

What happens when our own governments deprive us of information? Individuals and organizations need information. It\u2019s essential to our lives. We need it for research, trends, and to stay economically competitive. We need accurate information to make informed decisions.<\/p>\n

The information helps us in key areas, such as learning, education, decision-making, innovation, creativity, communication, personal growth, safety, health, well-being, social interactions, cultural development, and economic vitality.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for tribes to evolve and strengthen their governance structures. We all need to do our part to firmly plant the third pillar of tribal sovereignty.<\/p>\n

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear currently serves as an appointed board member of the Indigenous Journalists Association. An independent committee selected award winners.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The post Buffalo\u2019s Fire publisher honored with Tim Giago Free Press Award<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>

Visit Original Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/div>

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, online publisher of Buffalo\u2019s Fire, addresses about 400 Canadian and U.S. journalists on Aug. 12 during her acceptance speech of the inaugural Tim Giago Free Press Award. The awards banquet took place during the 40th Annual National Native Media Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba. PHOTO\/Indigenous Journalists Association <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a>
Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> August 26, 2023<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1541,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5627],"tags":[10105,6657],"class_list":["post-36435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resource-directory-blog","tag-archive","tag-top-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}