Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

September 11, 2011

Censored News celebrates fifth anniversary


Censored News celebrates its fifth year, and would like to hear from you!

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
Photo: Keith Secola and Floyd Westernman 2006/Photo by Brenda Norrell

Censored News is celebrating its fifth year of publishing. It is a grand journey that has featured the news that is censored in other media. It began in 2006 when I was first censored, then terminated, as a longtime staff reporter at Indian Country Today. Censored News was created to expose what the other media is censoring in Indian country, and in global human rights news.
Along the way, Censored News became a full-time, unpaid, labor of love. Censored News has no advertising, so I'm looking for suggestions from you, readers and well-wishers, for ideas about the direction that Censored News should take.
While most of you say, "Thanks for keeping us informed," some say, "Your website is really depressing."
So, the question goes out to all of you: How does Censored News keep going, and what direction should it take? What would you like to see more of?
The travel expenses to cover stories for Censored News are immense. Recently, I cleaned houses to pay my own way to provide coverage of the Protecting Mother Earth Gathering in North Dakota. Again, a labor of love, but out of fairness, there must be some way to fund Censored News.
Even though this is the unpaid job of a volunteer, people become very demanding about having their news published. Other times, it is discouraging to see those in salaried positions simply plagiarizing the news here and elsewhere, and refusing to send their own staff out on news stories to actually cover the news.
So, drop me a note with your ideas. And thanks as always for reading and submitting your news and photos  to Censored News!
Finally, here's one of the first photos ever published in the Censored Blog, which was the forerunner of Censored News, at the Indigenous Peoples Border Summit in 2006 on Tohono O'odham land in San Xavier, Arizona.
Best, Brenda
brendanorrell@gmail.com

Brenda Norrell, publisher of Censored News, has been a news reporter in Indian country for 29 years. She lived on the Navajo Nation for 18 years, and served as a news reporter for Navajo Times, Lakota Times, and many other local and regional newspapers in the Southwest. She is currently out there, somewhere.

1 comment:

Opal Prizm said...

Your labor of love is appreciated. I'll pray Creator helps you continue. You are doing your best, who can ask for more. Many thanks for what you do. Keep up the good work. Love & Light.