Thursday, February 9, 2012

Carmen George of Sierra Star News Wins McClatchy Award for News With Her First Report On the Shameful Chukchansi Disenrollments

Our friend and reporter Carmen George has won the prestigious McClatchy Presidents Award for Community News. THANK YOU, Carmen for bringing this story to light and Congratulations from all of us.

News

First Place: Sierra Star (California)
Chukchansi Issues Disenrollment Letters
Carmen George

The Chukchansi Indians' move to disenroll tribal members caught the attention of reporter Carmen George, who documented its efforts and put them into context in a comprehensive story that thrust this far-reaching topic into public view. His dogged reporting included interviews with 13 people affected, leading experts in Indian American affairs and reviews of a wide range of tribal and federal documents.

The story linked the disenrollment to tribal officials' desire to increase their share of casino profits, limit membership geographically and deal with old grudges. George also took care to document the emotional and financial toll of the tribe's actions on those affected. Months later, The New York Times and Associated Press addressed the same issue.

As the third largest newspaper company in the country, McClatchy's operations include 30 daily newspapers, community newspapers, websites, mobile news and advertising, niche publications, direct marketing and direct mail services. The company's largest newspapers include The Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Kansas City Star, The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice to see that good reporting gets notices.

smokeybear said...

So what, if any, has the "New York Times" done to follow up on the "Human and Civil Rights Disobiedience of these Corrupt and Criminal Tribes?" Seems to be just another "Flash in the Pants!" Questions are raised that need to be addressed, then, somehow, even "Mer-ac-uously," they "Back Off" from following up? Could it be that "Undo Pressure" is being "Excerted" on them by "Powerful Casino Indian Lobbyists?

Anonymous said...

Who cares about the NYTimes? They served their purpose, got the story out front.

The National Review picked it up as did the AP.

Now, all of us have to pick it up and keep the light on it. I sent an email that OP sent out. They need to get dozens of emails.

One article isn't going to do it. But we need people like Carmen and the others who write about it to keep it up.

for ALL nations...for ALL chukchansi people said...

congratulations, and a HUGE thank you, to journalist carmen george of the sierra star...

her on-going written portrayal of the horrific violations of human, tribal, and civil rights being perpetrated against the chukchansi people by our own corrupt tribal government--and it's human toll--is both honest and compassionate...

carmen is very deserving of her recently awarded first place mcclatchy president's award, and this talented young woman has a tremendous future ahead of her in journalism!

thank you again, carmen!