Next week, Grist begins its pooled coverage of the 2024 United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, or UNPFII, which runs from April 15 to April 26 in New York. For the third year, Grist is working with a consortium of media outlets on collaborative, pooled coverage.
The collaborative includes ICT, High Country News, Mongabay, Native News Online, and APTN. Grist editor Tristan Ahtone coordinates coverage among the newsrooms in a shared Slack channel, and editors from each newsroom participate in the editorial process. Every story produced by participants is available to republish by the other members, as well as other outlets. Last year, the group covered a variety of topics including disaster relief, PFAS contamination, and Indigeneity as a determinant of health.
This year, Grist will also help lead a side event at the forum. On April 20, Grist will host a free, daylong training with the Indigenous Journalists Association and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. “Share Your Story” has been previously presented at both UNPFII and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the training is open to UNPFII attendees who want to learn how to communicate more effectively with journalists in order to share their stories with the media. The training will be led by Tristan Ahtone (Kiowa), editor at large at Grist, along with Graham Lee Brewer (Cherokee), race and ethnicity national reporter at the Associated Press; Angel Moore (Peguis First Nation), video journalist at APTN News; Joseph Lee (Aquinnah Wampanoag), freelance reporter; and Zoya Teirstein, staff writer at Grist. Registration is required and closes Thursday, April 18, at 6 p.m. ET.
“We’re excited to see the Global Indigenous Affairs Desk continue to grow and proud to be working with UNPFII attendees in more direct, hands-on ways through ‘Share Your Story,’” said Ahtone. “As Indigenous journalists, one of the most important things we can do is create new relationships within our own territories while working collaboratively with other Indigenous newsrooms and Indigenous Affairs desks.”
“Mongabay is honored to join once again some of the world’s foremost Indigenous journalists to share and amplify stories from the conference halls of the UNPFII,” said Mongabay editor Latoya Abulu. “This year’s theme on enhancing Indigenous self-determination upholds fundamental human rights and is one of the keys to showing the world different pathways of development and time-proven solutions to alleviate our planetary emergency characterized by biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution. This is evident in the science and the lived experience of Indigenous peoples that Mongabay relies upon for its journalism.”
Follow Grist’s ongoing Indigenous affairs coverage here.
