Antonia Gonzales is a member of the Navajo Nation and anchor and producer of the award-winning “National Native News,” a nationally syndicated radio program airing on public radio stations in the U.S. and Canada. She also has reported for New Mexico PBS and worked as a one-woman-band television reporter for the CBS affiliate in Southeastern New Mexico.
April interviewed Gonzales in 2019 after a ceremony where she was awarded the “Distinguished Lecturer” Eunson Award from Northern Arizona University. They spoke about a variety of topics including:
How she got started
“National Native News” and covering indigenous issues
Encouraging young Native journalists
Advice for non-Native journalists covering Native issues
Her perspective on the incident at the Indigenous Peoples March
Here, Gonzales describes how she got her start in journalism.
As the anchor and producer of “National Native News,” Gonzales talks about the program and covering indigenous issues.
Next, Gonzales talks about encouraging young Native journalists and some of the work currently being done by indigenous people.
The discussion references this article about two Native American journalists from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Gonzales discusses "Native Election Night Live” in the conversation as well.
Gonzales offers advice for non-Native journalists who want to do stories in Indian Country.
Next, Gonzales describes her initial thoughts about the incident between Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann and Native American elder Nathan Phillips near the Lincoln Memorial in January 2019.