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UA journalism students have formed the second national chapter of the Native American Journalists Association.

By Kate Harrison, UA Journalism Department
December 21, 2007

The University of Arizona department of journalism has become home to the nation’s second student chapter of the Native American Journalists Association.

The Native American Journalists Association, according to its Web site, “serves and empowers Native journalists through programs and actions designed to enrich journalism and promote Native cultures.” The group is headquartered on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman.

Thirteen undergraduate and graduate students representing several majors and five different tribes have signed on to join the UA group. A private donor is covering the cost of membership dues and the academic institutional membership. Jeannine Relly, an assistant professor of practice in journalism, will serve as the group’s adviser.

UA students began meeting early this fall to discuss forming a chapter. Candace Begody, a member of the Navajo Nation and a journalism major, was a driving force behind the chapter’s formation.

Begody, who has a minor in American Indian Studies, says she was driven to start a chapter after returning from a summer workshop at the American Indian Journalism Institute and an internship at the daily newspaper in Missoula, Mont.

“There are a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions about Native Americans,” says Begody. She hopes the student chapter will create and publish a news magazine that covers the nations in Arizona, a state with 22 tribes, of which 21 are federally recognized.

The journalism department has 11 majors and pre-majors who have self-identified as Native American. NAJA members plan to hold elections for chapter leadership roles when they return for classes Jan. 16.

The NAJA chapter is one of four active student groups in the journalism department. In January 2007 students launched a campus chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. The UA chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists holds workshops on such issues as job hunting, diversity and the Freedom of Information Act and has twice earned recognition as the top chapter in a four-state region.

The Journalism Student Advisory Council works closely with the department head on issues and concerns important to students.