Teresa Trumbly Lamsam is the newest addition to the Osage Newseditorial board. She's also the executive editor of the Native Health News Alliance. The Osage News is one of a handful of newspapers and media outlets existing in Indian Country with a free press act in place. Osage News editor Shannon Shaw Duty talked to her about the importance of a free press and what's being done to foster and environment where reporters and editors are unembedded with the tribal government.
In your opinion, what's the purpose of the editorial board of the Osage News?
I don’t get to have an opinion about that because Osage law determines the purpose. But in terms of what motivates me to serve, it’s this: Tribal media are perhaps the most important sources of information and reflection of our lives for Native American communities. They provide a service, educate us, protect our culture, boost our morale and watch over social, economic, legal and health concerns. I’ll do everything in my power to protect and sustain these cultural bastions of information.
Your past work focused on the influence and perception of Tribal media. Can you talk about what that is and what you think outside, non-native media's perception of tribal media is?
As an example of influence, I’ll talk about tribal media and the connection to the health and wellness of our communities. Native media are better positioned to deliver health and medical information to our people. What other news media can match our relevance and cultural knowledge? Research continues to show that people turn to news media for health information. When that health information is conveyed in culturally or ethnically relevant outlets, the influence is magnified. Community and ethnic media not only increase health knowledge but they also help change behaviors and influence policy.
In terms of non-Native media’s perception of tribal media, what I have been told over the years might shock you. There has been no shortage of descriptive labels such as “unsophisticated or uneducated” alongside criticisms of “they are just a mouthpiece for whatever chief is in power.” And then there is the ever popular: “They just aren’t up to our standards.” Have these people forgotten that most mainstream journalists work for corporations, and their chiefs are called CEOS. I used to go straight into defensive mode, but I eventually realized that it wasn’t doing much to change perceptions. So, setting “warrior woman” mode aside, I developed a more long-term strategy: Relationship building.
In my role as executive editor of Native Health News Alliance, I find the people who do care and want to make a difference, whether they are non-Native or Native, mainstream media or tribal media. Collaborations build relationships and trust and produce journalism that can make a difference.
How will you work to support free speech and press protections at the Osage News? And, what's the opinion of tribal members who get their information from Osage news about free speech?
I think it’s important that the board and editor come together as a team. I’m not talking about groupthink mentality but rather a team that can set aside personal agendas and look to the future of our nation and how this independent news publication can make a difference. Because I can tell you this – an independent newspaper can make more of a difference than a PR publication. Everyone can see through that approach.
We are more fortunate than some of our counterparts because most of our government leaders also believe in an independent press, even though they may get miffed at us from time to time. That enlightened view makes what we do so much easier.
I can’t tell you empirically about the opinion of tribal members toward free speech in our nation. Our news budget hasn’t allowed for engagement or polling of our citizenship. But I can tell you anecdotally that the newspaper and its staff have been overwhelming supported by the membership in the past when our operation was in danger of being closed or censured.
Why do you think non-native media should care about news outlets like Osage News having a free speech law in place and if a tribal media outlet has a robust and unembedded newsroom? Especially here in Oklahoma.
Our tribal governments and communities are of significant influence in the state of Oklahoma. People in general need to be more aware that the futures of both Native and non-Natives are intertwined. I’m not sure the non-Native news outlets are going to care to any degree about our Native media until they understand and practice the concept of mutual respect. Anything less just perpetuates a system of oppression that has been in place for generations.
Invisible Nations is brought to you by KOSU and Finding America, a national initiative produced by AIR, the Association of Independents in Radio Incorporated, and with financial support from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, the Wyncote Foundation, the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
