ICT is growing more and more. Four people have joined the team in their respective positions, some returning as permanent employees and some new to the organization.
Additionally there will be one significant partnership with Lee Enterprises this year. Two of the news chain’s outlets will hire a reporter that will be shared with ICT at the Rapid City Journal in South Dakota, and the Tulsa World in Oklahoma.
The partnership was designed to increase the coverage of Indigenous communities in both regions.
“We are so pleased to begin this partnership,” said Karen Michel, Ho-Chunk, president of IndiJ Public Media and ICT. “This is about creating opportunity. We need more Native journalists in order to tell a richer story. And by partnering with existing newsrooms we can serve our readers better and faster.”
The collaboration is part of a broader vision to expand ICT’s reach by creating seven new bureaus over the next three years. ICT currently has bureaus in Washington, D.C., and Anchorage, Alaska.
“This partnership with ICT reflects Lee’s continued efforts to provide the most important and impactful local news content to the diverse communities we serve,” said Jason Adrians, Lee Enterprises’ vice president-local news. “It’s an excellent opportunity to deepen our coverage of Indigenous communities in Oklahoma and South Dakota, as well as grow our roster of talented local journalists.”
There are nine tribal nations in South Dakota and 39 tribal nations in Oklahoma.
The ICT broadcast wing is also growing.
This week Paris Wise, Zia and Laguna Pueblo, officially started as a producer for the ICT Newscast. She said she is honored to join the ICT’s team and is grateful to the people before her who provided her this opportunity.
“I have already learned so much from my short time here due to the overwhelming kindness and community I have received from ICT. I hope to make everyone proud and hope to pay it forward one day to future journalists in Indian Country,” Wise said, who is a graduate of University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Aliyah Chavez, anchor of the ICT Newscast, said “we are thrilled to have Paris Wise, a talented and thoughtful journalist, join our team. From day one, she was ready to get to work by pitching story ideas and potential guests. Paris has a deep understanding of ICT’s mission. We are confident she will continue pushing the needle forward in the stories we tell at the ICT Newscast.”
“I look at this job as a responsibility to cater to our audience and make sure I do justice by the stories of our communities. Even though a lot of the team is remote, this is the most I have felt at home in a work environment,” Wise added.
Pacey Smith-Garcia, a Weminuche Ute descendant, is the second person to join the team as a production assistant. Smith-Garcia started with ICT in the fall as an intern.
“The best way to describe Pacey Smith-Garcia is a great teammate,” Chavez said. “We are glad to welcome him back as a production assistant. He previously interned for us,” Chavez said. “Pacey’s hire means he is working with us as a professional journalist while still being in college. He has a great eye for stories, especially about Indigenous communities internationally.”
Daniel Herrera and RipLey-Simone Kennebrew are also the newly hired broadcast interns. They are expected to gain a lot of reporting experience working with the ICT Newscast for the spring semester.
“They have been learning how to write and produce the news through their classwork at ASU’s Cronkite School. We are happy to have them put those skills to use in working with our newscast,” Chavez said.
Herrera is a first generation American college student and is a senior and studying broadcast at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
He loves to play chess and guitar in his free time.
“I wanted to join ICT because I truly believe that the work that is done here is impactful and provides a voice for those who have never had one,” he said.
Kennebrew is a junior and double majoring at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, focusing on entertainment broadcast and producing, and at the W. P. Carey School of Business for business communication.
She said she wanted to be a part of the team and learn from Aliyah Chavez, the directors, producers, editors and writers.
“I was extremely interested in the possibility of working specifically alongside the producers and getting on-air time to start building my reel since being a producer and on-air reporter are my career goals. I believe that my semester with ICT will assist me in becoming a better producer, reporter and a true (multimedia journalist),” Kennebrew said.
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