Late last year, we shared the news that an upcoming Blue Chalk produced documentary had been awarded a grant by The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. That documentary is now live on The New Yorker website.  

The film follows local journalists from the Navajo Times as they cover the COVID-19 crisis in their community, which stands at over 27,412 square miles. 

The Navajo Nation has been hard by the pandemic. Access to information during this frightening time “is a matter of life or death” says Tom Arviso Jr., long-time publisher of the newspaper.

For many who live there, the arrival of the weekly newspaper, often days after it is published, is their only way to keep up with life on their land. Established in 1959, The Navajo Times was the first Native newspaper to get its independence from its tribal government and has a long-standing reputation of acting as a watchdog for its community. Perhaps more than any other newspaper, its dwindling circulation could leave many with very little knowledge of what occurs on their land.  

By embedding with Navajo journalists, we tell the stories of the people who maintain this crucial, but fragile, informational link in a vast community with limited digital connectedness.   

The full documentary is now available to watch on The New Yorker website.