Jourdan Bennett-Begaye G鈥�16 grew up in New Mexico and earned a master鈥檚 degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She is the managing editor of Indian Country Today.
Jourdan Bennett-Begaye G鈥�16 is right where she wants to be. As managing editor of Indian Country Today, the 51爆料网 alumna has an influential role in addressing topics important to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and creating a narrative that is their own. It鈥檚 also a leadership position that she believes she was meant for鈥攁 way to represent and honor her family and ancestors. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing. I wake up and think, 鈥楬ow can I help my community?鈥� And being part of something bigger than yourself鈥攊t鈥檚 just beautiful, and it鈥檚 so powerful,鈥� says Bennett-Begaye, a Din茅 (Navajo) citizen who holds a master鈥檚 degree from the .
Bennett-Begaye joined Indian Country Today in 2018 as a reporter-producer and served as its Washington, D.C., bureau chief and deputy managing editor before assuming her current role in February. She says she has grown professionally with the organization, which has undergone several transformations from its origins as a newspaper in the 1980s to its 2018 relaunch as a nonprofit, multimedia news enterprise headquartered at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University in Phoenix. 鈥淚 think the growth of this organization is a pure example of Indigenous excellence and brilliance,鈥� says the Washington, D.C.-based journalist.
I wake up and think, 鈥楬ow can I help my community?鈥� And being part of something bigger than yourself鈥攊t鈥檚 just beautiful, and it鈥檚 so powerful.
Jourdan Bennett-Begaye G鈥�16
One issue at the forefront of Bennett-Begaye鈥檚 mind has been the number of COVID-19 deaths and cases among Native Americans. When the pandemic broke out last year, she pursued information on cases through the Indian Health Service and other sources and began building a database, but she often found the data to be inconsistent and difficult to acquire. Eventually, she connected with the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 global mapping team through the university鈥檚 Center for American Indian Health, and the team began tracking information鈥攁s best it could鈥攐n Native communities. Through a North American network called the Indigenous Investigative Collective, Bennett-Begaye was part of a reporting team that tackled the issue in depth and published an expos茅 in early June 2021. 鈥淏roken system can鈥檛 keep track of Native deaths,鈥� read the headline in Indian Country Today.
Bennett-Begaye鈥檚 work has also extended into the national political arena. She鈥檚 interviewed presidential candidates, covered the inauguration of President Biden L鈥�68, H鈥�09, and participated in Indian Country Today鈥檚 live TV coverage of the 2018 midterm and 2020 elections. The 2018 broadcast saw the first two Native women elected to Congress鈥擲harice Davids of Kansas and Deb Haaland of New Mexico, who is now U.S. secretary of the interior鈥攁nd led to the creation of the first national TV newscast focused on American Indians and Alaska Natives, which is carried by public stations. 鈥淏eing in front of that camera talking on live TV with Native candidates and informing Indian Country, essentially my community, was phenomenal,鈥� she says, noting that she lost a grandparent around the time of each of those elections. 鈥淚 overcame my nerves of going on live TV both times by imagining my grandparents鈥攁nd family鈥攐n the other side watching and listening to me, telling them our stories.鈥�
With a background in public health administration, Jourdan Bennett-Begaye G鈥�16 created a real-time COVID-19 database that tracked the number of cases, tests, vaccinations and deaths among Native American communities, the first database of its kind to benefit Indigenous people.聽
Reporters (left to right) Aliyah Chavez, Tsanavi Spoonhunter and Jourdan Bennett-Begaye join social media guru Jaynie Parrish as they go over Indian Country Today鈥檚 2018 election plans the day before the first live Native Election Night. Photo by Eugene Tapahe/Tapahe Photography.
Discovering Journalism and Syracuse
Bennett-Begaye, who grew up in Kirtland, New Mexico, was a competitive volleyball player and earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in athletic training with a minor in English communication from Fort Lewis College in Colorado. She envisioned becoming a physician鈥檚 assistant and landed a highly competitive internship with the Future Public Health Leaders Program, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded initiative. But her love of writing and storytelling pointed her more toward journalism than medicine. Through the American Indian Journalism Institute, she received training and held a summer internship with New Mexico鈥檚 Farmington Daily Times . After graduation, she was awarded a fellowship by the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) that provided intensive multimedia training. 鈥淭he fellowship really helped me decide that journalism鈥檚 for me, and I thought, 鈥業 need to find a grad school,鈥欌�� she says.
Although Syracuse is a huge university, it seemed small to me, and I felt like I had a family at Newhouse. That was the type of environment I needed.
Jourdan Bennett-Begaye G鈥�16
With that thought, Bennett-Begaye zeroed in on a business card tacked to a corkboard in her bedroom. The card was given to her by Tammy Bluewolf-Kennedy 鈥�04, G鈥�10, an admissions counselor and Native American liaison at 51爆料网. The two had met in Albuquerque at the annual Gathering of Nations, the largest powwow in North America, and when they reconnected there a year later, Bennett-Begaye told Bluewolf-Kennedy that she had applied to the Newhouse School鈥檚 program. She was awarded a prestigious Newhouse Graduate Newspaper Fellowship for Minorities , which, along with the presence of a strong Indigenous community, led her to Syracuse. 鈥淚 enjoyed my time there. I loved it,鈥� she says. 鈥淎lthough Syracuse is a huge university, it seemed small to me, and I felt like I had a family at Newhouse. That was the type of environment I needed.鈥�
In April 2019, Bennett-Begaye returned to Syracuse as a guest panelist for the Newhouse School鈥檚 Race and Media Symposium.
Bennett-Begaye remains appreciative of Newhouse faculty for their support and guidance and cites serving as managing editor for her magazine capstone project for helping her develop skills that she uses today. As part of her fellowship, she interned with The Post-Standard /Syracuse.com, where her most meaningful assignment鈥攐ne that she insisted on covering鈥攚as reporting from Standing Rock on the Dakota Access Pipeline movement. It was an issue she addressed as a guest panelist for Newhouse鈥檚 Race and Media Symposium in April 2019.
She also found a home with the University鈥檚 , through which she connected with the Haudenosaunee community on campus and hung out at the Onondaga Nation, forging friendships along the way. She and several other students co-founded the Haudenosaunee Student Alliance and were instrumental in advocating for the University to officially recognize Indigenous Peoples Day. She鈥檚 also helped Bluewolf-Kennedy with high school recruiting visits in New Mexico. 鈥淛ourdan became鈥攁nd still is鈥攁 vibrant part of our Indigenous community,鈥� Bluewolf-Kennedy says. 鈥淪he is a powerful, spirited, resilient, trailblazing Indigenous woman!鈥�
Giving Back to Her Community
After graduation, Bennett-Begaye returned to New Mexico, where she taught journalism, theater and video production at her alma mater, Kirtland Central High School. It was also a way for her to give back to her community鈥攁 constant in her life. She鈥檚 coached volleyball and worked with Indigenous youth programs, and in 2014 she and her friend Allie Young co-founded Survival of the First Voices Festival. This arts and culture event has helped Native youth learn to use art and media as a way to preserve their culture, represent their identities and build a sense of pride in being Indigenous. 鈥淲e saw this need in our community, and we both loved the arts,鈥� she says.
That sense of community has been with Bennett-Begaye throughout her life. She attributes it to 碍鈥櫭� , the idea of kinship that is central to the Din茅 society. It鈥檚 about helping family and community, and being kind, generous and compassionate, she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an all-encompassing word in two letters.鈥�
Bennett-Begaye carries that sense of purpose with her. The former NAJA Fellow is now a member of the organization鈥檚 board of directors. And she鈥檚 dedicated to creating opportunities and providing resources and support for the next generation of journalists. 鈥淚 love the organization so much, and they鈥檝e helped me get to where I am,鈥� she says.
Jourdan became鈥攁nd still is鈥攁 vibrant part of our Indigenous community. She is a powerful, spirited, resilient, trailblazing Indigenous woman!
Tammy Bluewolf-Kennedy 鈥�04, G鈥�10
Bluewolf-Kennedy is proud that Bennett-Begaye has emerged as an influential leader, knowing that she will make a difference. 鈥淚n her position at Indian Country Today, Jourdan helps elevate our collective Indigenous voice and bring our stories into the mainstream,鈥� Bluewolf-Kennedy says. 鈥淔or all that Jourdan is, for all that she鈥檚 already accomplished in her young life, for the example she鈥檚 setting for the Indigenous youth coming after her, I delightedly hold her up as the kind of Indigenous mover and shaker our youth can aspire to!鈥�
