November 25, 2006

Native journalists make a difference

Jodi Rave:  More American Indian journalists neededThe reading public responded enthusiastically to Rave's stories.

"It was just like a light had turned on for the entire community, because people hadn't seen Indian stories before. They were hearing different perspectives and they liked it. And it hasn't changed. Every day I get e-mails from people saying thank you for writing or I'm a fan of yours--I love to hear that. It makes me realize that it's making a difference and I'm doing what I believe in. I don't care about those other journalists who don't want to write about Indian issues, because I do and I always have," Rave said.

Passionate about the subjects she covers, one of Rave's greatest recent successes was the Montana Legislature's appropriation of $13 million in public education funding for Indian history and culture. The state's 30-year-old constitutional mandate to provide that curriculum to K-12 students had been completely ignored, but Rave's yearlong coverage raised awareness and support for the appropriation.
For more on the subject, see Native Journalism:  To Tell the Truth.

2 comments:

Rob said...

I'm glad you've made a difference, Russ. But do you think OJ deserved to go free just like your adopted brother?

Rob said...

I'm not sure OJ was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But from what I saw of the evidence, he was guilty.