A news outlet offering reporting by and for Indigenous people is embarking on an expansion in Montana. ICT, formerly Indian Country Today, celebrated the grand opening of its new Missoula-based bureau Tuesday evening.
Its new Mountain bureau is the result of a partnership with the University of Montana School of Journalism, where the bureau will be based. The office will be staffed by a bureau chief, a reporter and a student intern.
ICT Editor Jourdan Bennett-Begaye says more Indigenous reporters is important for news consumers.
“Hey, we're here, we have background, we have knowledge and we can create a more well-rounded and contextual story that's nuanced too. Because a lot of times, you know, history has portrayed Native people as black and white and not this complex being,” Bennett-Begaye said.
ICT’s expansion comes at a time when news outlets across the country are announcing layoffs or shutting down entirely.
Lee Banville is Director of UM’s School of Journalism. Banville tells MTPR emerging nonprofit news outlets such as ICT are increasingly filling the vacuum left behind by traditional commercial news organizations.
“It's just changing in its business model and it's changing in its audience and how it thinks about, you know, am I printing a newspaper and sending it out or am I making a broadcast or am I creating a digital product that goes where people are,” Banville said.
Over the next several years, ICT plans to expand its footprint by adding bureaus across the country.
