The Navajo Nation, which sprawls across close to eighteen million acres, has been hit hard by the pandemic. Watch as we follow the work of local journalists covering the crisis.
Produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center
Production Company: Blue Chalk Media
Role: Editor
The Navajo Nation has been hit hard by the pandemic. Access to information during this frightening time “is a matter of life or death,” says Tom Arviso Jr., long-time publisher of the Navajo Times.
This film, produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center, embeds with this newsroom and the handful of reporters who cover their community. It’s a demanding task, as the 150,000 people of the Navajo Nation live spread over three states crisscrossed by 18,000 miles of mostly unpaved roads. Cell service is unreliable and 40% have no internet access.
For many on the reservation, the arrival of the weekly newspaper, often days after it is published, is their only way to keep up with life on their land. Established in 1959, the Navajo Times was the first Native newspaper to get its independence from its tribal government and has a long-standing reputation of acting as a watchdog for its community. Perhaps more than any other newspaper, its dwindling circulation could leave many with very little knowledge of what occurs on their land.
By embedding with Navajo journalists, we tell the stories of people who maintain the crucial, but fragile, informational links that hold together a culturally strong community spread over an enormous space with limited digital connectedness.
Contributors
Eléonore Léo Hamelin, Director / Producer
Torsten Kjellstrand, Producer / Still Photography
Rob Finch, Producer / Editorial Supervisor
Jason Greene, Director of Photography
José Márquez, Editor
Sakya Lucky Salsoyas, Assistant Camera/Second Camera
Whitney Bradshaw, Assistant Editor
Aubrey Moore, Assistant Editor
Emma Decker, Assistant Editor
Conner Lee, Graphics
Miró Merrill, Graphics
Greg Moyer, Executive Producer
Pam Huling, Executive Producer
Sebastián Weinberg, Head of Production
Amy Polansky, Head of Post-Production
Soo-Jeong Kang, Supervising Producer (The New Yorker)
Brian Redondo, Senior Editor (The New Yorker)
Sara Joe Wolansky, Supervising Producer (The New Yorker)
