FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 20, 2008

NATIVE PUBLIC MEDIA EXPANDS NETWORK SERVICES

Native Public Media today announced the expansion of its network services program naming Peggy Berryhill (Muscogee) to a new position, Director of Media Architecture and Services, and Camille Lacapa (Hopi-Tewa and Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe) to Network Services Manager according to Loris Ann Taylor, Executive Director.  Berryhill and Lacapa will be responsible for implementing national service plans that will develop the resources and assets needed to operate existing media outlets, utilize new platforms, and create media systems that inspire and facilitate active engagement by Native people. 

Native Public Media is a resource and advocacy organization that promotes healthy, engaged independent Native communities by strengthening and expanding Native American media capacity. It works with 33 Native-owned public radio stations in 12 states, a media network that will soon expand to include 25 additional public stations under construction. Most recently, NPM led an extremely successful effort to expand Native media ownership by assisting 37 Native Tribes and organizations file for new station licenses in the FCC’s Non-commercial Educational filing window in 2007.  Native-owned stations play a central role in facilitating economic development, building community, empowering political involvement and celebrating creativity on tribal lands.   

As the new Director of Media Architecture and Services, Berryhill will be responsible for forging strategic relationships with external partners and creating systems that will strengthen the viability of the Native media within the changing media landscape.  Her new role is an outgrowth of her original position with Native Public Media as Director of Station Services which she assumed in 2004 when Native Public Media was founded.  Berryhill began her career in broadcasting in 1973 serving as a Program Director at KUNM-FM, KPFA-FM, and KALW-FM. Berryhill was the first Native person to work as a full-time producer at National Public Radio (NPR) in the Specialized Audience Programs Department from 1978-1979, blazing the way for others to follow.  Berryhill will be responsible for developing a Plan outlining how the Native media network can utilize new media technologies and platforms to enhance and expand the media capacity of Native America.

Lacapa joins Native Public Media as Network Services Manager and will work closely with the Native-owned radio stations, new NCE applicants and Native Voice One to develop and implement a national service plan to improve the infrastructure and operations of the Native media system. Lacapa is the former Station and Audience Relations Manager for Native Voice One. She has worked in public radio for twenty-one years, and served as Station Manager of WOJB-FM in Reserve, Wisconsin from 1991-2005.  

Taylor welcomed both women to their new roles with Native Public Media stating that their leadership is particularly crucial to the ongoing development of a media system that is growing and expanding into new media technologies and platforms.  “Native Public Media must substantially strengthen the Native media system’s network so media can continue to play a central role in enabling Natives to tell our own stories, solve our own problems, and shape our own future.  The power of Native media lies in its ability to make the voice of Native people heard both within Native America and beyond.”