Navajo Times publisher will receive
Zenger Award at Oct. 10 luncheon in Phoenix
The University of Arizona School of Journalism and the Arizona Newspapers Foundation have named Tom Arviso Jr. the 2009 winner of the John Peter and Anna Catherine Zenger Award.
The award will be presented at the Arizona Newspapers Association annual meeting and convention on Saturday, Oct. 10, in Phoenix. Arviso will offer the keynote address and plans to speak to classes in the UA School of Journalism Oct. 19-20.
Arviso is the chief executive officer of the Navajo Times Publishing Company, Inc. and the publisher of the Navajo Times newspaper in Window Rock, Ariz. He is a staunch advocate for Freedom of the Press issues and has had numerous discussions with tribal government leaders and officials over editorial control and censorship. In fact, this tension prompted Arviso, a Navajo, to develop a plan for the Navajo Times to separate itself from the Navajo Nation government as a newspaper and as a business.
Kevin R. Kemper, an assistant professor of journalism at the UA and an international expert on press law and indigenous peoples, nominated Arviso for the Zenger Award. Kemper is most impressed with Arviso's ability to respect the delicate relationship that exists between tribal leaders and the media who cover them.
"When we deal with problems about censorship on reservations we can look at Tom Arviso and the Navajo Nation as great examples of how to uphold free press and protect tribal sovereignty," Kemper said.
Arviso was hired as the edtiro 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.
RSVP for the luncheon to Perri Collins, Arizona Newspapers Association.
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