Mark Trahant Explained

Mark Trahant is a journalist and the founding editor of Indian Country Today, an Indigenous-focused news operation.

Career

Trahant is a former Charles R. Johnson Professor of Journalism at the University of North Dakota. He is a citizen of Idaho’s Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and a former president of the Native American Journalists Association.[1] Trahant is the former editor of the editorial page for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where he chaired the daily editorial board, directed a staff of writers, editors and a cartoonist.[2] He was chairman and chief executive officer at the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.[3] He is a former columnist at The Seattle Times and has been publisher of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News in Moscow, Idaho;[4] [5] executive news editor of The Salt Lake Tribune; a reporter at the Arizona Republic in Phoenix; and has worked at several tribal newspapers.[2] He was an editor in residence at the University of Idaho. Trahant was a reporter on the PBS series Frontline with a documentary called "The Silence," about sexual abuse by clergy in Alaska.[6] At the 2004 UNITY conference in Washington, D.C., he asked George W. Bush what the meaning of tribal sovereignty was in the 21st century; Bush replied, "Tribal sovereignty means that. It’s sovereign. You’re a ... you’re a ... you’ve been given sovereignty and you’re viewed as a sovereign entity."[7]

Books

Trahant authored Pictures of Our Nobler Selves, a history of American Indian contributions to journalism published by Freedom Forum in 1996.[8]

He contributed to a commissioned exhibit, The Whole Salmon, published by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts in 2003.[9] He also contributed a chapter to Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes, an anthology edited by Alvin M. Josephy Jr. and published in 2006.[10]

His book The Last Great Battle of the Indian Wars was published in 2010, dealing with the federal government's Indian termination policy and the rise of Native American self-determination in the mid-20th century.[11]

Honors and awards

Trahant, as a co-author of a series on federal Indian policy, was a finalist for the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting.[2] [12] Trahant’s awards and honors include Best Columnist from the Native American Journalists Association and the Society of Professional Journalists, a Ruhl Fellowship, and co-winner of the Heywood Broun Award. He was a 2009-2010 Kaiser Media Fellow.[13] In 1995 Trahant was a visiting professional scholar at The Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. He serves as a Trustee of the Diversity Institute, an affiliate of the Freedom Forum, based in Washington, D.C. Trahant was a juror for the Pulitzer Prize in 2004 and 2005.

Personal life

Trahant lives in Phoenix, Arizona. He is married to Jaynie Parrish.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Native American Journalists Association Remembers USA Today Founder Al Neuharth . . April 20, 2013 . Native News Network . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130424184206/http://www.nativenewsnetwork.com/native-american-journalists-association-remembers-usa-today-founder-al-neuharth.html . 2013-04-24.
  2. Web site: P-I names Mark Trahant editorial page editor . McGann . Chris . January 30, 2003 . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140904220612/https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/p-i-names-mark-trahant-editorial-page-editor-1106482.php . 2014-09-04.
  3. Web site: Mark Trahant . . November 28, 2011 . . Native American Heritage Month 2011 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160426223500/http://mije.org/features/native-american-heritage/mark-trahant . 2016-04-26.
  4. News: . July 22, 1996 . Trahant named Daily News publisher . . 1A . 2024-09-26 . Google News Archive.
  5. News: . July 23, 1996 . Moscow-Pullman paper names new editor and publisher . . 6A . 2024-09-26 . Google News Archive.
  6. Web site: The Silence . Curran . Tom . Trahant . Mark . April 19, 2011 . Frontline . PBS . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240926115700/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/the-silence/ . 2024-09-26.
  7. Web site: Bush on Native American Issues: "Tribal Sovereignty Means That. It's Sovereign" . . August 10, 2004 . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230410091055/https://www.democracynow.org/2004/8/10/bush_on_native_american_issues_tribal . 2023-04-10.
  8. . January 22, 1996 . Let's keep talking . limited . live . . 28 . 1 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240926222938/https://www.hcn.org/issues/issue-51/lets-keep-talking/ . 2024-09-26.
  9. Web site: 'The Whole Salmon' explores a river and its people . Tanous . Adam . August 13, 2003 . Idaho Mountain Express . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240714191629/https://archives.mtexpress.com/2003/03-08-13/03-08-13thewholesalmon.htm . 2024-07-14.
  10. Web site: Indians' reflections on famous expedition . Hammond . Dewey . May 7, 2006 . SFGate . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210515080552/https://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Indians-reflections-on-famous-expedition-2497543.php . 2021-05-15.
  11. Web site: The Last Great Battle of the Indian Wars . Newman . Chérie . August 22, 2013 . . The Write Question . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231004133649/https://www.mtpr.org/2013-08-22/the-last-great-battle-of-the-indian-wars . 2023-10-04.
  12. Web site: Finalist: Mike Masterson, Chuck Cook and Mark Trahant of The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, AZ . . . The Pulitzer Prizes . . 2024-09-26.
  13. Web site: Mark Trahant . . . . . 2024-09-26 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240926212245/https://www.colorado.edu/center/west/mark-trahant-0 . 2024-09-26.

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