Affirming tribal sovereignty, democracy through independent Native media
Media Entrepreneur, Journalist, Photographer, Documentary Producer, Sometime Poet, Fellow@Nieman/John S. Knight/MacDowell
Press freedom in Indian Country
Some columns and articles on press freedom, data sovereignty, research, freedom of information, and a bit of poetry written by JRSB
Some freedom of information, local news and future of democracy for Native people interviews/articles/press releases including Buffalo's Fire
Some columns and articles on press freedom, data sovereignty, research, freedom of information, and a bit of poetry written by JRSB
- The Objective: Jodi Rave Spotted Bear: Native peoples must be part of an emergent media collective power
- Investigative Reporter and Editor: The Indigenous Issue, Tribal Leaders and the Fourth Estate
- Society of Professional Journalists: The missing and murdered Indigenous person crisis calls for Indigenous data sovereignty
- Medium: Informing
- The Objective: Jodi Rave Spotted Bear: Native peoples must be part of an emergent media collective power
- Investigative Reporter and Editor: The Indigenous Issue, Tribal Leaders and the Fourth Estate
- Society of Professional Journalists: The missing and murdered Indigenous person crisis calls for Indigenous data sovereignty
- Medium: Informing and involving my community
- Medium: Dark Ages: Freedom of Information Act needed in tribal communities
- Medium: Tribal news deserts thrive when citizens, media lack access to public records
- High Country News: Survey finds few tribal governments allow press freedom, 83% of respondents said stories about tribal government affairs often go unreported due to censorship.
Poems
Akademie Schloss Solitude, Reports From An Extraction Zone, June 14, 2021
Media Research
Media Research from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance and The Trust Project Building trust: Early findings from a collaborative study on Native Americans and news media
Some past and upcoming speaking-moderating engagements on freedom of information, free press and open records, JRSB
Some freedom of information, local news and future of democracy for Native people interviews/articles/press releases including Buffalo's Fire
Some columns and articles on press freedom, data sovereignty, research, freedom of information, and a bit of poetry written by JRSB
- Kaleidoscope Live! Charlotte, North Carolina. June 23, 2024. Legislative Sustainability Panel.
- National Congress of American Indians, Cherokee, North Carolina, June 3, 2024: Free Press & Sunshine: How Native Leaders Can Promote Transparency in Tribal Government
- Native Americans in Philanthropy, April 24, 2024, Accelerating Impact on Native
- Kaleidoscope Live! Charlotte, North Carolina. June 23, 2024. Legislative Sustainability Panel.
- National Congress of American Indians, Cherokee, North Carolina, June 3, 2024: Free Press & Sunshine: How Native Leaders Can Promote Transparency in Tribal Government
- Native Americans in Philanthropy, April 24, 2024, Accelerating Impact on Native Issues Through Media Collaboration
- The Trust Project, New York City, February 8, 2024, Raising the Bar: Improving Coverage for Indigenous Peoples
- National Association of Science Writers, plenary panelist, Indigenous Media Freedom, October 9, 2023.
- Indigenous Journalists Association (formerly Native American Journalists Association), Winnipeg, Canada. Tim Giago Free Press Award acceptance speech, August 12, 2023.
- Center for Journalism & Democracy, Howard University, November 15, 2022. panelist on "The Call is Coming from Inside the House."
- Stanford University, JSK Journalism Program, Zoom panelist on press freedom with Aliyah Chavez.
- International Journalism Festival, Perugia, Italy, April 8, 2022. Beyond LIp Service-Taking Action for Diversity and Trust
Some freedom of information, local news and future of democracy for Native people interviews/articles/press releases including Buffalo's Fire
Some freedom of information, local news and future of democracy for Native people interviews/articles/press releases including Buffalo's Fire
Some freedom of information, local news and future of democracy for Native people interviews/articles/press releases including Buffalo's Fire
- The Roadmap for Local News-An Emergent Approach to Meeting Civic Information Needs, February 2, 2023.
- Investigative Reporters & Editors Journal: Historical Datasets, Archives offer insight into generational inequity
- Editor & Publisher: Impeding the press for Native Americans
- Indigenous Journalists Association, 2023: NAJA selects Jodi Rave S
- The Roadmap for Local News-An Emergent Approach to Meeting Civic Information Needs, February 2, 2023.
- Investigative Reporters & Editors Journal: Historical Datasets, Archives offer insight into generational inequity
- Editor & Publisher: Impeding the press for Native Americans
- Indigenous Journalists Association, 2023: NAJA selects Jodi Rave Spotted Bear as Tim Giago Free Press Award recipient
- Prairie Public Radio: Indigenous Representation in the Media
- ND Monitor: Documenters group wants more eyes on local governments
- National Association of Science Writers: ScienceWriters2023 plenary shines light on fight for Indigenous media freedoms
- Latino USA, "The Call is Coming From Inside the House," January 17, 2023.
- ICT, interview on Bush Foundation Fellowship and advancing press freedom.
- Prairie Public News, "Bush Fellow Jodi Rave Spotted Bear," May 21, 2021.
- MacArthur Foundation: TBA
- Solutions Journalism Network, Advancing Democracy.
- Trust Project, Buffalo's Fire, first Native newsroom to join TTP. Trust Project Adds 27 Leading Local, Community Sites and Newsletters
Jodi Rave Spotted Bear
Bio
Jodi Rave Spotted Bear now serves as the director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck and the Fort Berthold Reservation. The IMFA publishes news online at Buffalosfire.com.
Before founding the IMFA, Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She has won journalism awards from military, mainstream, university, and Native press organizations. Some of those awards include: a Silver Telly Award for video; Paul Savanuck Military Print Journalist of the Year; Society of Professional Journalists Pacific Northwest for education reporting; the Thomas C. Sorensen Award for Distinguished Nebraska Journalism; Columbia University's "Let's Do It Better" for a portfolio of work and column writing; and the Native American Journalists Association for column writing.
Jodi is a Harvard Nieman Fellow and a Stanford John S. Knight journalism fellow. Jodi’s writing is featured in, "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. She is the inaugural recipient of the Tim Giago Free Press Award, 2023, the Indigenous Journalists Association achievement award.
In 2023, Jodi was selected to serve as a national board member of the Society of Professional Journalists, representing about 4,500 journalists. She is also an SPJ Foundation board member and is now chairperson of SPJ’s Freedom of Information Committee. She is also a current board member of the Indigenous Journalists Association.
Before returning home to North Dakota, Jodi reported on Native issues for Lee Enterprises for more than a decade. Her last reporting post was with the Missoulian in Missoula, Mont.
She is an enrolled citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation and also Mniconjou Lakota. She lives with her family in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Jodi earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado-Boulder. For articles and columns written by Jodi (Rave) Spotted Bear, search archives where she has worked as a reporter: The Missoulian, Lincoln Journal Star, Idaho Statesman, and Salt Lake Tribune. She is currently the online publisher at Buffalo's Fire, the news site of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 founded and directed by Spotted Bear. She serves as the Society of Professional Journalists Freedom of Information Committee chair.
Through My Lens: A continuing journey to share the stories of our American Indian communities
