Media Moves

Confederated Umatilla Journal in Columbia River Plateau region names Snell editor

July 25, 2023

Posted by Mariam Ahmed

The following excerpt was sent out from eastoregonian.com:

Lisa Snell

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation has hired Lisa Snell as the new editor of the award-winning Confederated Umatilla Journal.

Snell, who has spent her career as a journalist serving tribal communities, started her role on Monday, July 17.

Snell, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, has spent most of her career with publications serving tribal communities.

“I’m really thrilled to have the opportunity to be here and to learn about a tribe that’s not my own, and at the same time, contribute the best way I know how, which is to put together a quality publication,” Snell said.

She got her start in journalism working for the Cherokee Nation’s newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix. Snell then worked for the Native American Times, which she eventually bought and managed.

In addition, Snell also launched a magazine, Native Oklahoma, to meet a demand for more feature stories about Indigenous people and tribal nations in Oklahoma. She also wrote a travel guide, “American Indians & Route 66,” for the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association, in partnership with the National Park Service, to highlight tribal perspectives and the voices of Indigenous people living along the historic route. Most recently, Snell taught English in the Czech Republic. She has a bachelor of arts in communications from the University of Tulsa.

As editor, Snell will oversee operations of the monthly newspaper — writing and editing local, community-focused news stories, designing and laying out the paper, selling advertisements to generate revenue and establishing and maintaining subscriptions.

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