Wanted: Native Reporters
by Karen Ducheneaux

Elaine Kulhanek, managing editor of the Argus Leader newspaper, talks to students of the American Indian Journalism Institute. Photo by Tetona Dunlap

Hiring more Native Americans in mainstream media will ensure more accurate representation of Native issues. At least that seems to be the consensus of news organizations in Sioux Falls, SD.

“It is critically important for Natives to be in the mainstream,” says the non-Indian Tena Haraldson, Sioux Falls bureau chief for The Associated Press. “We don’t have enough. Your perspective is very important.”

Haraldson’s statement is echoed in newsrooms throughout the city.

Neal Bennett, news director at KSFY Dakota News First, says he received no applications from Native Americans when hiring for both on- and off-air positions. “That’s a shame,” he says.

“Companies look to diversify,” states Meagan Dorsch, a news anchor and reporter at KSFY.

Native Americans' lack of representation exists in all aspects of media, according to many journalists. When considering journalism as a profession, “do internships to determine what medium most suits you,” suggests Dorsch.

John-John Williams IV, a beat reporter for the Argus Leader, says cultural backgrounds bring an understanding of issues that outsiders may not achieve.

“No one knows you better than you,” states Williams.

Marty Two Bulls, an Indian reporter at the newspaper, agrees. “These stories belong to us,” Two Bulls says. “And we should write them.”

Although assimilation is a word many Native Americans say they hear all too often, maintaining diversity is important. According to Williams, the melting pot mentality popular in America “tears apart culture.”

Everybody’s a Chief
Haraldson agrees that cultural understanding is imperative to accurate media portrayal. When the Sioux Falls bureau of the AP sends local stories out, “in [the] New York [bureau], they make everybody a chief,” Haraldson said.

Some of the misinformation—and lacking coverage in general—is due to a lack of participation on the part of Native Americans themselves, Bennett said.

“Most of the time when people approach me and say, ‘You didn’t cover this issue,’ I say to them, ‘I didn’t know,’ ” Bennett said. He encourages people to call him when they know of an issue that KSFY should cover.

There is evidence that some organizations are making constructive efforts to increase minorities involved with mainstream media. At the Argus Leader, the number of minorities in the newsroom is much higher than the norm. “Our newsroom, for the size, has one of the most diverse populations in the country,” says Elaine Kulhanek, the managing editor of the Argus Leader.

KSFY works to increase diversity by attending job days at multicultural centers. The station tries to find young people of different backgrounds interested in broadcast media.

Karen Ducheneaux, Cheyenne River Sioux, attends the Oglala Lakota College. She was a student at the Freedom Forum's 2003 American Indian Journalism Institute.

A Native Voice
by Craig Henry

Vince Feeling: "We need to let the rest of the world know that there are Native Americans out there with voices." Photo by Craig Henry

Young Native Americans have a new voice—literally. Vince Feeling, vice president of United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY), is making sure of that by broadcasting a weekly audio news show on the organization’s Web site.

“I got the idea while at my National Public Radio internship in Washington, DC, in June 2001,” says Feeling, a Communications major at the University of Oklahoma. Feeling, a Cherokee, was the first Native American to intern at NPR.

Feeling persuaded UNITY Director J.R. Cook to agree to his idea of getting more information about UNITY and its goals out to the public.

His broadcast, titled “The Voice of UNITY,” debuted March 31 with news of the Cherokee Nation Tribal Youth Council and interviews with UNITY member Russell Coker and “Native America Calling” host Harlan McKasato, a University of Oklahoma journalism graduate.

The broadcast’s slogan is: “Sounds so good, you’d give up frybread.”

Feeling says he plans to incorporate sources from Native American newspapers across the nation, as well as from Reznet, the online newspaper by Native American college students.

“With all major projects, one needs help,” Feeling says. “Not only would I like to get more attention directed towards UNITY, but also to get more people reading other sources of Native news as well.”

Feeling hopes to get other Native American youth councils throughout the country involved by reporting news in their communities for the broadcast. He says, “We need to let the rest of the world know that there are Native Americans out there with voices, and they will be heard.”

To hear Feeling’s ongoing broadcasts, visit “The Voice of UNITY” and then click “listen to this week’s broadcast.” For feedback or story ideas, you can reach Feeling at v_feeling@hotmail.com.

Craig Henry, Cherokee, attends the University of Oklahoma. He is a 2001 graduate of The Freedom Forum’s American Indian Journalism Institute.

See more from Reznet

This is the fourth of four youth media Web sites featured on Connect for Kids in August, 2003.

Talk Back

If you've got comments or questions about this story, we'd like to hear them. Send your response to Susan Phillips.