Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

IMFA and Buffalo’s Fire Launch Call for Short-Form News Stories

award-winning news video award-winning news video

HALLIDAY, ND – The Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance (IMFA) and Buffalo’s Fire have an open call for news story proposals. IMFA and Buffalo’s Fire are seeking tribal grassroots media makers, filmmakers, photojournalists and reporters to submit their story ideas so as to better report on American Indian communities.

“Native people have a near-zero presence in visual news broadcasting locally, regionally and nationally,” said IMFA Executive Director Jodi Spotted Bear (Mandan-Hidatsa, Lakota). The IMFA advocates for independent Native news, tribal media literacy, and the story-telling inclusion of indigenous languages and culture.

Applicants will be scheduled for a Zoom call for their story pitches.

“IMFA will provide participants with the resources, skills and support they need to deliver news coverage in their tribal communities,” said IMFA Assistant Director Georgiana Ausan (Navajo). The IMFA will distribute successful projects on Buffalo’s Fire www.bufffalosfire.com.

For guidelines and more details, contact Georgiana Ausan (Navajo) at georgiana.ausan@gmail.com or (402) 570-5205.

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.