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LINCOLN, NEBRASKA - The Cherokee Phoenix won four awards at the 21st annual Native American Journalists Association Convention August 11-14, 2005 in Lincoln.

The Cherokee Phoenix was awarded second place for general excellence in the monthly category. Staff writer Travis Snell won first place in news writing for "Tribal council authorizes intervention in JKB case" in the January 2005 issue. Snell brought home a second place in column writing for "Don't look to tribes to fund state budgets" in the February 2005 issue, and staff writer Gregg Simmons won second place in news writing.

Bryan Pollard, Phoenix assistant editor, was elected to a one-year term on the board of directors of NAJA. This marked the second time a Cherokee Phoenix staff member was elected to the board. Editor Dan Agent was elected to the board at the 18th annual NAJA convention in 2002 in San Diego, Calif.

Mike Kellogg (Navajo), publisher of the News Press in Stillwater, Okla., was elected president of the association on Aug. 14 by the board of directors of NAJA at the conclusion of the annual convention in Lincoln.

Kellogg, a NAJA member for almost 20 years, wants to focus in the coming year on membership development, expanded coverage of Native issues in both tribal and mainstream media and expanding free press protections in Indian Country. He succeeded Dan Lewerenz.

"With so many Native issues at the forefront - tribal economic development, the NCAA's mascot decision, and the efforts of so many tribes to protect their sovereignty - NAJA will continue its role as a watchdog, making sure these issues are covered accurately," Kellogg said.

NAJA also will continue to develop its student programs and development opportunities to bring more Natives into journalism and to help them advance their careers.

"This industry needs diversity, but that means more than just diversifying newsrooms," Kellogg said. "It needs to diversify on the business side, because diversity makes good business sense."

Other officers elected were:

Marley Shebala (Navajo and Zuni), vice president, is an investigative reporter for the Navajo Times in Window Rock, Ariz.

Cristina Azocar (Upper Mattaponi Tribe of Powhattan Nation), treasurer, is director of the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State University.

Lewerenz, secretary, (Iowa Tribe of Kansas & Nebraska) is administrative correspondent for The Associated Press in Cheyenne, Wyo.

Lewerenz and Shebala were reelected to the board; newly elected to the board were Minnie Two Shoes (Nakoda), for a three-year term, and Pollard for a one-year term. Two Shoes is a founding member of NAJA and a past board member and officer. She works as a freelance writer and media consultant and owns MTS Productions in Minneapolis.

Continuing board members are Susan Braine (Assiniboine), chief operating officer/national for Koahnic Broadcast Corp.; Ronnie L. Washines (Yakama Nation), managing editor of the Yakama Nation Review and KYNR radio in Toppenish, Wash.; and Frank J. King Jr., (Rosebud Sioux), publisher of The Native Voice, based in Rapid City, S.D.

Founded in 1984, NAJA is a national nonprofit that works to recruit Native people into journalism, improve the skills of Native journalists, ensure fair and accurate coverage of Native communities and advocate for a free press in Indian Country.

Related Cherokee Nation contact information: Cherokee Phoenix and Indian Advocate "Celebrating 175 years of Native American Journalism" "The Cherokee Phoenix has moved from a quarterly to a monthly publication."