Reporting on Native communities: AP reporter talks media representation

Associated Press national reporter Graham Lee Brewer, left, with Willie Grayeyes, commissioner of San Juan County, Utah. Lee Brewer was to serve as a speaker at the "With, Borderless" international online festival. // Photo courtesy Graham Lee Brewer

By Brooklyn Dottin 

Long Island has only two remaining Native American reservations—the Shinnecock and Posspatuk—a sharp contrast to the more than dozen tribes that once thrived in the region in the pre-Colonial era.

Traditionally, media coverage of Native American communities has been scare, often misrepresenting or stereotyping them. There are few, if any, Native American journalists at major news organizations.

Ahead of today’s “With, Borderless” international online festival, hosted by the nonprofit Media for Change, WRHU News Director Brooklyn Dottin spoke to Graham Lee Brewer, an Associated Press national reporter and workshop presenter.