Health Equity Initiative With Indigenous Journalists Association

As the trailblazing tribal newspaper founded in 1828, Cherokee Phoenix drew on a long legacy of Indigenous journalism to examine health-equity issues across the Cherokee Nation. During this initiative, the newsroom highlighted the tribe’s efforts in harm reduction, health-care workforce development and access to clean water — and how these strategies were improving community well-being. It also launched a dedicated solutions journalism section featuring a Cherokee-language slogan and graphic: “ᎪᎷᏩᏛᏓ ᎧᏃᎮᎸᏍᎩ” (“Goluwadvda Kanohelvsgi”), meaning “solution story.”

• Cherokee Nation confronting water woes
• More than a Meal: Cherokee Nation Senior Nutrition Sites address elder food insecurity by serving up food, fellowship and community
• Closing the gap between Cherokees and cancer care
• No home, no health: Cherokee Nation, others working to provide shelter and more
• From dead zones to lifelines: Cherokee Nation’s broadband expansion boosts health, education

“Solutions journalism is a vital skill and storytelling style that every newsroom in Indian Country should be incorporating. Contrary to the typical negative media coverage, this style gives Indian Country the opportunity to become more informed while also giving the inspiration to see positive changes or solutions to issues within their respective tribes and communities.” — Tyler Thomas, executive editor, Cherokee Phoenix

Tyler Thomas, executive editor, Cherokee Phoenix

This three-organization collaborative launched "Our Living Lands," a weekly radio segment examining how climate, environment and health intersect across Indigenous communities. While the program was not exclusively solutions-focused, reporters were consistently encouraged during editorial meetings and coaching sessions to explore solutions angles — an approach that led to more solutions-driven work and, as Joseph Lee, the editor,  noted, “complex, important reporting so early in the life of our program.”

• Climate change is putting strain on the 13,000 Navajo families that don’t have electricity
• How the Navajo Nation is using mutual aid to connect families to the electric grid
• How the Washoe Tribe built a business to sustain a firewood bank for their elders
• Nevada tribe is bridging the healthcare gap with a mobile clinic that serves 2,000 tribal patients

“These stories are more than just producing for radio. It’s about reclaiming our narratives, holding systems accountable and amplifying the voices that are too often left out of the conversation.”

Daniel Spaulding, producer/reporter, “Our Living Lands”

Run by and for the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate in the Dakotas, this small, hyperlocal, community-embedded newsroom told health-equity stories grounded in the day-to-day realities of its citizens. Its print-only reporting during the initiative showed how tribally led programs and culturally rooted approaches were closing long-standing health gaps and supporting community well-being.

“If I could tell Indian Country one thing about solutions reporting, it would be that it gives us the power to tell our own stories of sovereignty and resiliency.”

Rachael German, digital media specialist, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate