Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

Independence Day, friends and family

The North Dakota Native Tourism Alliance will be hosting its second annual Native American Heritage Month Celebration at the state capital in Bismarck from Nov. 15-16. (Photo courtesy of the North Dakota Native Tourism Alliance)

tierra-and-jodi-for-blogDear Reader:

First, my bad. Or, errr, my busy?

My apologies for not keeping up with the daily blogging. Where to start? It’s been  exactly two months today that I quit the full-time newspaper business to pursue a long-time goal — to write a book and earn a master’s degree. And now that I’ve quit the 9-to-5 gig,  I’m wondering: What took me so long! Time has been flying by as I catch up with life and do the things I was too busy to do when I was filling out a time card. Most of all, I’ve had time to spend with friends and family. Time I have not had in a long time, like the last 13 years I worked as a daily news reporter.  The last week has been a busy one here at my home in Missoula. Some house guests just left today. And this morning I took Army Spc. Krystal Two Bulls, a member of my adopted Lakota family, to the airport. It’s July 4, Independence Day and Two Bulls is being deployed to Iraq. I was able to spend yesterday with her, time I might not otherwise have to spend. Tonight, I’ll be with friends and family up on the Flathead Reservation.

That said, I’ll roll into a regular blog schedule next week. I will, however, be offline again the week of July 20 with a long planned commitment.

Meanwhile, folks, have fun. Enjoy the day!

Jodi Rave

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.