Why We Matter
The Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit media organization with articles of incorporation in North Dakota. We are creating a news system that can respond to the news gap of information in American Indian communities in the Great Plains. News and information are critical to economic development and sustainable, thriving communities. We’re dedicated to creating a news environment where citizens can control their destiny by making informed decisions. We express our gratitude to the foundations and donors who have considered and currently support our work, including the Poss Foundation.
Donor Transparency Policy
We are committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization. Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their products, services or opinions. We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals, organizations and foundations to help with our general operations, coverage of specific topics, and special projects. Our news judgments are made independently – not based on or influenced by donors. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review or edit content.
We will make public all donors who give $1000 or more per year. As a nonprofit, we will avoid accepting donations from anonymous sources, and we will not accept donations from government entities, political parties, elected officials or candidates actively seeking public office. We will not accept donations from sources who, deemed by our board of directors, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.
Editorial Independence Policy
We subscribe to standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News:
Our organization retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services or opinions. We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support.
Our organization may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.
Our organization will make public all donors who give a total of $1,000 or more per year. We will accept anonymous donations for general support only if it is clear that sufficient safeguards have been put into place that the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our organization and in compliance with INN’s Membership Standards.
Meet Our Executive Director: Jodi Rave Spotted Bear
Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is an award-winning journalist and opinion writer who’s won awards from mainstream, military, university and Native American press associations. She wrote for daily newspapers for nearly 15 years. Her first story was published more than three decades ago. Jodi reported on American Indian issues for 11 years as a national correspondent for Lee Newspapers in Missoula, Montana and Lincoln, Nebraska.
Jodi is Mandan, Hidatsa and Minneconjou Lakota. She founded is the online publisher of Buffalo’s Fire, an independent digital news site. She lives in Twin Buttes, N.D.on the Fort Berthold Reservation with her husband and daughter.
Awards
Jodi was awarded a Nieman Fellowship for journalists at Harvard University in 2003-2004. She is also the recipient of national awards and honors for news and opinion writing, including the Society of Professional Journalists Pacific Northwest, Native American Journalists Association, Montana Newspaper Association, Columbia University School of Journalism and the University of Nebraska. She was also awarded the Paul D. Savanuck Military Print Journalist of the Year Award.