Acoma journalist featured on ‘Close Up at the Newseum’

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

LAWRENCE, Kan. — A graduate student who is from the Pueblo of Acoma appeared on “Close Up at the Newseum” on C-SPAN2 Friday.

Rhonda LeValdo answered questions from the audience about the challenges of being a Native American journalist, according to Mary Jane Dunlap of University of Kansas Relations. LeValdo is pursuing a master’s degree at KU and teaches video production at Haskell Indian Nations University.

The show featuring LeValdo will also address federal funding for tribal schools and increasing Native American participation in U.S. government, according to Dunlap.

The show was taped Thursday in Washington. More than 100 students from the National Indian Education Association and tribes were invited to participate in the audience.

A news video made by LeValdo, which focuses on federal government funding for tribal schools and the effect on Haskell, was expected to be shown. The report was originally prepared for the PBS Online NewsHour.

LeValdo said that one challenge she has faced as a Native American journalist is questions from news editors and producers about a conflict of interest in reporting stories about Native American issues.

This is LeValdo’s second trip to the nation’s capital in two months. She was a runner-up for the YouTube Project: Report in January. The project, sponsored by YouTube and the Pulitzer Center, gave aspiring journalists a chance to tell stories that might not otherwise have been told.

LeValdo also completed a National Minority Consortia fellowship by reporting on Native American participation at the inauguration for the PBS Online NewsHour. Her piece aired Jan. 16.

“I thought it was great that they trusted me enough to do a nonbiased report. My whole purpose in journalism is to get Native American news into mainstream media,” she said.

LeValdo said that she recognized interest in the presidential election among the younger generation while working on stories about the campaign. She was surprised her 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son knew Barack Obama.

“When I was 6, I didn’t know who was president. The only president I kind of knew about was John Kennedy because in our home on the Acoma reservation my grandmother had his picture on the wall,” she said.

LeValdo lived on the Acoma reservation as a youngster before graduating from high school in Phoenix . She earned her associate’s degree in media arts from Haskell and bachelor’s degree in journalism from KU.

“Close Up at the Newseum” is a long running public affairs program that involves young people in discussions with expert guests. The one-hour program has run nationally since 1979.