Navajo Times publisher will be honored
at traditional ceremony Oct. 19
The publisher of the Navajo Times will be honored at a traditional celebration ceremony sponsored by the student chapter of the Native American Journalists Association in the University of Arizona’s School of Journalism Oct. 19.
The ceremony, which will include the Ha:san Traditional Singers from the Ha:san Preparatory and Leadership School, will begin at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19, at Alumni Plaza in front of the Administration Building on the campus Mall. Ray Austin, a retired associate justice of the Navajo Supreme Court and an adjunct professor in the UA College of Law Indian Peoples Law and Policy Program, will give the blessing.
The ceremony honors Tom Arviso Jr., who won the John Peter and Anna Catherine Zenger Award from the UA School of Journalism and the Arizona Newspapers Foundation because of his efforts for promoting freedoms of the press and information in the Navajo Nation and other tribes.
Arviso has battled with tribal officials for editorial control over the Navajo Times. When the paper criticized a tribal chairman in the late 1980s, according to a story in the Navajo Times, Arviso received bomb threats and hate mail and had his car vandalized. He even was hung in effigy by angry citizens outside the newspaper office in Window Rock, Ariz.
“Tom is a respected elder to our journalism students and others who care about accurate storytelling among tribes,” said assistant professor Kevin R. Kemper, who also advises the NAJA chapter. “This ceremony gives Native peoples an opportunity to celebrate this wonderful accomplishment.”
The ceremony is part of a two-day visit by Arviso to the school, where he will lecture in classes and visit with students, faculty, and staff. He received the Zenger Award at the annual meeting of the Arizona Newspapers Association Oct. 10 in Phoenix.
Arviso was hired as the editor of the Navajo Times in October 1988 and assumed the duties of editor and publisher in 1993. He was a sports writer and news reporter with the Navajo Times TODAY, the first and only Native American-owned daily newspaper, from 1984 to 1986. Prior to that, Arviso wrote for The Arizona Indian, a monthly publication based in Phoenix.
Arviso is a former board vice president and treasurer of the Native American Journalists Association’s Board of Directors and is currently a member of the Arizona Newspapers Association’s Board of Directors. In 1997, NAJA awarded Arviso its prestigious Wassaja Award for “extraordinary service to Native journalism.” A year later, the Arizona Newspapers Association honored Arviso with the Freedom of Information Award.
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For more than 50 years, the Zenger Award has honored people who have made extraordinary contributions to freedom of the press and the people’s right to know.
“The entire journalistic community is well aware of Tom’s advocacy for free press issues,” said Jacqueline Sharkey, director of the UA School of Journalism. “His work in this area demonstrates why a free press is just as important now as it was 200 years ago when the founders of this country enshrined it in the Bill of Rights.”
Ronnie L. Washines, president of the Native American Journalists Association and a member of the Yakama Nation, applauds Arviso's advocacy for a free and independent press for Native Americans. "In our historical societies, we have always had people step up and voice what they feel in their hearts for the good their people - and Tom has done that. He has sacrificed in order for free expression and a thorough reporting of the day's activities be presented in a professional manner. He is a journalist."
The Zenger Award is named for a husband and wife team of pioneering journalists. John Peter Zenger was editor of the New York Weekly Journal in 1734 when he was jailed by British colonial authorities on charges of seditious libel. He had criticized the corrupt administration of New York’s governor, William Cosby. While Zenger was imprisoned, his wife, Anna Catherine Zenger, continued to publish the newspaper. Zenger’s subsequent trial and acquittal is considered a landmark case in the history of freedom of the press, helping to lay the foundation for the First Amendment.
All are invited to the UA ceremony, but RSVPs are appreciated. Those wanting to RSVP or who have questions may contact Kemper at krkemper@email.arizona.edu, 520-621-9680, or NAJA chapter president Candace Begody at candacebegody@gmail.com.
More about the Zengers
A web site has been created that pays tribute to the Zengers.
Read how it got started here.
Visit the site, JPZenger.
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