Free Online Lecture – Ambivalent Indigeneity: How Misrepresentations in News Media Past Prevent Authentic Representation of Indigenous Identity and Issues in the Present with Melissa Greene-Blye, PhD

Amerind Free Online Lecture:

Ambivalent Indigeneity: How Misrepresentations in News Media Past Prevent Authentic Representation of Indigenous Identity and Issues in the Present with Melissa Greene-Blye, PhD

Saturday, January 8, 2022, 11:00 am – Arizona Time

Issues surrounding Indigenous identity and recognition are complex, and, too often, journalists fail to offer authentic representations of Native individuals and issues in the news; however, this problem is not new. During the presentation, Melissa Greene-Blye, PhD will examine the ways news media past and present have contributed to a legacy of misrepresentation of Native peoples with the goal of highlighting ways to improve that coverage in the future.

The discussion will exam the historical roots of problematic coverage of Indian issues and individuals while also examining the ways those historical misrepresentations continue to manifest in contemporary coverage of Indian Country. Her talk will also serve to counter the prevailing press tendency to treat the historical experiences of the numerous tribal nations monolithically, a tendency which serves to diminish the unique experiences and identities of those nations. Perhaps most importantly, Greene-Blye will offer insights into what can be done to counter a legacy, which, for too long, has limited the ability of Indigenous individuals and communities to tell their own stories and exercise self-determination in the way they are represented in the press as well as in the historical record.

Greene-Blye will make the case for the necessity of placing Native people in the center of their own narrative and giving them voice in the ways they are represented in news media by pointing out the need to reconsider and redefine what we think we know about what it means to be Native, and by asking us to reevaluate the history we know and the stories we tell ourselves about the people and events that led us to where we are today. She will also discuss the need to adjust and improve the ways we train journalists, with an eye toward telling more inclusive, more authentic stories in the future.

Melissa Greene-Blye, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Kansas William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications. She is also affiliated faculty with the KU Indigenous Studies Program. Green-Blye worked as an anchor and reporter during 20 years in the news business covering local news in television markets big and small. She enjoys using her knowledge and experience to educate the newest generation of journalists.

Greene-Blye is an enrolled citizen of the Miami Nation. Her research examines journalistic representations and negotiations of American Indian identity past and present. Most recently, her work has been published in “Journalism History.” She has presented research at the American Journalism Historians Association annual conference as well as the Joint Journalism Conference held in New York City each year.

This online program is free, but space is limited. To register visit: https://bit.ly/AmerindOnline010822