About Us
"As an independent news organization, we strive to report news and information with fairness and balance. While being the official news organization of the Osage Nation, we base our news judgements on our loyalties to our readers and Osage citizens, and we are not directly beholden to the Executive, Legislative, or Judicial branches of the Osage Nation."
- mission statement of the Osage News
PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH
To obtain republishing rights for original Osage News articles and photos, please call 918-287-5669 or e-mail Shannon Shaw at sshaw@osagetribe.org.
All re-published Osage News content must have the Osage News URL (osagenews.org) added to the story. If the story is republished on a Web site, the Osage News URL must link back to the Osage News home page. Stories must have the following sentence added to the end of the article: This story originally was published by the Osage News (osagenews.org) and is used with permission.
COMMENT POLICY
You must be a registered user, with a valid email address, to post comments. You are solely responsible legally for the content of your Submissions. However, while OsageNews.org does not and cannot review every Submission and is not responsible for the content of these messages, OsageNews.org reserves the right to delete, move, or edit Submissions that it, in its sole discretion, deems abusive, defamatory, obscene, in violation of copyright or trademark laws, or otherwise unacceptable.
POLICIES
Code of Ethics based on SPJ model and Osage Nations ethics code
The Osage News serves all Osage people equally, regardless of location.
EDITORIAL BOARD
No endorsement of political candidates.
No editorials from the paper’s reporters, editor.
No gifts accepted from, or given to, elected officials or employees of Osage Nation in an official capacity. Exceptions where culturally appropriate.
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
ADVERTISING
Paid: Set rates are open to anyone for any purpose, at the discretion of the editor and/or board of directors.
Free: Osage Nation programs advertising for events benefitting Osage people.
CLASSIFIEDS
Set rates, open to anyone for any purpose, at the discretion of the editor and/or board of directors.
NOTICES: weddings, anniversaries, births, deaths, obituaries
Free; all information provided by reader.
100 word limit for weddings, births, anniversaries and birthday announcements
250 word limit for community announcements
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Compiled by staff from information provided by readers and Osage Nation programs; subject to news/community service value
CRIME AND COURTS
In keeping with policy of serving all Osage people equally, there will be no reporting of routine crime and court events such as an “Osage County police blotter”; Exceptions include when a criminal event or conviction becomes a legitimate story of interest to readers.
REPORTING
The Osage News seeks to cover news in all its complexity.
No one-source stories, including both documentation and people.
No anonymous sources, except with the approval of the editor who must know the identity of the source.
The Osage News is not a substitute for the due-process provided by the Osage Nation’s policies and procedures.
No gifts accepted from, or given to, elected officials or employees of Osage Nation in an official capacity. Exceptions where culturally appropriate.
OPINION PAGES
Limited space each month
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Respectful and informative to the reader.
May be edited for grammar, clarity and space. 500 word limit.
WANT TO BUY PHOTO PRINTS?
For an 8 x 10 Color photo: $15
For an 8 x 10 Black and White photo: $10
Call (918) 287-5668 for more information.
OSAGE NEWS STAFF
Shannon Shaw, Osage, is the editor of the Osage News, the tribal newspaper of the Osage Nation in Pawhuska, Okla. She is also a former assignment editor for reznetnews.org, a Native American news, information and entertainment Web site that also trains and mentors Native college journalism students around the country.
A former reporter at the Santa Fe New Mexican, Shaw is a graduate of the American Indian Journalism Institute. She is also a Chips Quinn Scholar and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. Shaw has had internships at the Associated Press in Sioux Falls, S.D., a copy editing internship at The Forum in Fargo, N.D. She has been a mentor at the Native American Newspaper Career Conference held at the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota and an adjunct faculty member of the American Indian Journalism Institute.
In 2006 Shaw won First place for Investigative Reporting by the New Mexico Women’s Press Association, and third place in Feature Writing by the Associated Press and Managing Editors, respectively, for “Domestic Violence in Indian Country in Epidemic Proportions.” In 2009 she won third place in Feature Writing by the Native American Journalists Association for “Indian Country responding to Osage’s designs.”
In 2010 Shaw won First place for Best Online Writing by the Native American Journalists Association for “Five members of Congress meet behind locked doors to discuss budgetary cuts.” She also won second place in Best News Story by NAJA for “Chief Jim Gray files two suits Friday against the Osage Nation Congress.”
Shaw is a member of the Native American Journalism Association and the Society of Professional Journalists. To contact Shannon Shaw e-mail her at sshaw@osagetribe.org.
Benny Polacca joined the Osage News in March 2009 as a staff writer. He comes from Arizona - by way of North Dakota.
Polacca worked for more than two years at The Forum newspaper, which covers the Fargo and Moorhead, Minn., metropolitan area as a weeknight reporter. He reported on a spectrum of topics including bitter-cold wintry weather, municipal affairs, special events and human-interest.
He has written on local ties to the historic 2008 presidential election, efforts to pass citywide smoking bans, criminal matters (including bank robberies, armed standoffs, and shootings) and a local soldier killed while serving in Iraq.
Polacca previously worked as a reporter for reznetnews.org, an online newspaper, and wrote for the Native American Journalists Association’s 2006 convention newspaper in Tulsa. He has covered Native American-related topics including sacred land concerns, oral tradition and a museum exhibit on Indian boarding schools.
He holds an English degree from Arizona State University and studied news writing at the American Indian Journalism Institute at the University of South Dakota.
Polacca has volunteered as a mentor at the Native American Newspaper Career Conference held at the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota. He won third place in the North Dakota Newspaper Association’s 2008 Better Newspaper Contest for the government reporting category (newspapers with a circulation of over 12,000). In 2010 Polacca won second place for Best Online Writing by the Native American Journalists Association for his story titled “Tribal members write messages on their cars to ‘Pass the Budget!’”
Polacca comes from the Hopi, Havasupai, Pima and Tohono O’odham tribes in Arizona and is a NAJA member. To contact Benny Polacca e-mail him at bpolacca@osagetribe.org.
Sunnie Clahchischiligi - Ya'ah'teeh (Hello). I am Sunnie Clahchischiligi from Teec Nos Pos, Ariz., a very small town on the Navajo Reservation.
I am the sports writer for the Osage News. For the past two and a half years I was the sports writer for The Navajo Times in Window Rock, Ariz., covering everything from high school basketball to PGA golfers.
Before the Times I was a sports intern at the Salt Lake (Utah) Tribune, Sports Illustrated Magazine in New York City, The Santa Fe (N.M.) New Mexican, a news/cops intern at The Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal and the St. Cloud (M.N.) Times. I am also a 2008 graduate of the University of New Mexico with dual Bachelor’s degrees in print journalism and speech pathology.
I have been a Phoenix Suns fan since my father took me to my very first game. I'm often asked about my last name so in short, in the Navajo language it means “Lefty with Curly Hair,” it is the description of my great-grandfather.
I thank you for having me and I look forward to splashing some more color onto the pages of the Osage News. To contact Sunnie e-mail her at sclahchischiligi@osagetribe.org.
Chalene Toehay, Osage/Kiowa, is the Photographer and Editorial Assistant for the Osage News, the tribal newspaper of the Osage Nation in Pawhuska, Okla.
Toehay worked for Riverside Indian School for three years and the Wichita & Affiliated Tribes for two years before joining the staff at the Osage News. A natural photographer, she attended the UNITY convention in Chicago where she furthered her skills as an up and coming photojournalist.
Toehay is a member of the Native American Journalism Association and she has helped the Osage News in covering the life and issues of the Osage community. She is the proud mother of two beautiful children and a loving partner to her long-time companion.
To contact Chalene Toehay e-mail her at ctoehay@osagetribe.org.
OSAGE NEWS MEMBERSHIPS
Native American Journalists Association
Oklahoma Press Association
OSAGE NEWS AWARDS
In 2009 the Osage News won third place for Best Design and Layout by the Native American Journalists Association and third place for Best Feature.
In 2010 the Osage News won second place for General Excellence by the Native American Journalists Association as well as first and second place for Best Online Writing, second place for Best News Story and third place for Best Editorial.
