We need your help to cover native communities and their impacts on Whatcom County
I’m delighted to tell you that The Bellingham Herald is adding a reporter to cover Native American communities across Washington state.
Natasha Brennan starts June 1 working with us and our sister McClatchy papers in Olympia, Tacoma and Tri-Cities. Her coverage will focus on tribes across Washington, including the Nooksack Tribe and Lummi Nation. She’ll cover the tribes’ impact on our local communities, environment and politics, as well as traditions, culture and equity issues.
Natasha said she became inspired to specialize in writing about Native American culture and issues as a child visiting her father’s family on the Cahuilla Reservation in southern California.
Natasha joins us in partnership with Report for America, which is placing about 300 journalists in more than 200 newsrooms this year and simultaneously working with those newsrooms to develop their philanthropy efforts. Report for America pays a portion of the reporters’ salaries; local newsrooms cover the rest.
That’s where we need your help. Through community fundraising, we need to raise money to support this position. So we’re launching our spring fundraiser at bellinghamherald.com/donate. Donations are tax-deductible through Journalism Funding Partners.
Your donations directly support this effort to expand journalism resources in our area.
Natasha comes to the state after graduating with her master’s degree from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She’s written stories for PBS Native Report and Indian Country Today. You can follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/natasha_marie_b. She’s a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Native American Journalists Association.
“To cover Washington’s vibrant indigenous community is an incredibly important task I’m honored to be chosen for. I’m ready to get to know Washington’s tribes and indigenous people, and help the state of Washington get to know them better, too,” Natasha told Stephanie Pedersen, McClatchy’s Northwest regional editor.
It’s a time of historic firsts for Native Americans. Lummi writer Rena Priest is Washington state’s poet laureate. Former Whatcom Superior Court Judge Raquel Montoya-Lewis serves on the Washington State Supreme Court. Deb Haaland is the U.S. Interior Secretary.
Here in Whatcom County, where so many have adopted land acknowledgment as an act of reconciliation, we sought this reporting help to improve our coverage of the importance and richness of indigenous culture.
We, too, recognize we work on the traditional territory of the indigenous people who have called this land home since time immemorial. We invite you to join us on this journey.
If you can, please support this reporting position through our spring donation campaign as we look to add more journalism resources at The Herald to better serve our community.
Thanks to past reader donations, we’ll also have an intern joining The Herald this summer as we continue to cover COVID-19 and the changes driven by the pandemic in Whatcom County.
There’s so much to cover: How restaurants and retail have adapted, how federal and state funds will be spent on childcare, housing, infrastructure and so much more. We’re also looking at how local governments are responding to concerns about racial equity, police and public safety, substance abuse, mental illness and homelessness. Housing and growth and the environment also continue to be important topics to Whatcom County.
If you have insights on these topics or other pandemic issues and are willing to speak to a reporter, we invite you to contact us at newsroom@bellinghamherald.com.
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 11:10 AM.
