UPDATE Summit Canceled: Secretary Trujillo and Mark Trahant Featured Native Broadcast Summit Keynote

Flagstaff, AZ – Lynn Trujillo and Mark Trahant will serve as keynote speakers at the annual Native Broadcast Summit (NBS) that will take place at the Residence Inn by Marriott in Downtown Phoenix on April 28-30, 2020. The Summit, hosted by Native Public Media, is the largest gathering of North American Indigenous Nations in the fields of television and radio broadcasting.

Trujillo will address a complicated contemporary social issue in the wake of missing and murdered Indigenous women and how a partnership with media professionals can help to bring solutions to light. “Our Destiny Through Solutions Storytelling” is the theme of this year's summit and sets the stage to mobilize media professionals in constructing an environment focused on solutions narrative change.

Trujillo is Sandia Pueblo and serves as the Cabinet Secretary for the State of New Mexico Indian Affairs Department. Appointed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on January 22, 2019, Trujillo was unanimously confirmed by the New Mexico Senate on February 20, 2019. Before joining the Administration, Secretary Trujillo worked with Native American tribes and organizations throughout the United States as a National Native American Coordinator for USDA Rural Development programs. Her experience includes organizing in tribal communities, developing programs to preserve native culture and language, and practicing Indian law in Washington, D.C., and New Mexico.

Trahant, a well-known journalist and editor of Indian Country Today, will provide the State of Native Media Address highlighting key historical information and current media trends specific to Indian Country. These will include key audience trends, newspaper circulation, radio and television broadcast growth and potential, technological platforms, capacity challenges, and overall Native media growth.

A member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, Trahant was a professor at the University of North Dakota, the University of Alaska Anchorage, the University of Idaho, and the University of Colorado. As a reporter for PBS’ Frontline series his most recent Frontline piece, “The Silence,” covered sexual abuse by priests in an Alaska Native village. Trahant was also the editorial page editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and has worked for The Arizona Republic, Salt Lake Tribune, The Seattle Times, the Navajo Times Today, and the Sho-Ban News.

“We are honored that Secretary Trujillo and Editor Mark Trahant will serve as our keynote speakers for the 2020 Summit. Their presentations will provide an opportunity for our media professionals to learn how our media ecosystem is thriving and ways we can collectively leverage our robust industry trends, network partnerships, and growing influence for the benefit of our Native communities,” states NPM Board Chair Roanne Robinson-Shaddox.

Update: March 10, 2020 – Flagstaff, Arizona. Given the growing public health concern regarding COVID-19, Native Public Media (NPM) canceled the 2020 Native Broadcast Summit slated for April 27—30, 2020, in Phoenix, Arizona.

NPM’s decision is based on prioritizing the health and safety of Summit participants and is supported by advisories from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and travel restrictions issued by Tribes and others throughout the nation.