Nellie Moore selected as 2024 IJA-Medill Milestone Achievement Award recipient
Throughout her 44-year journalism career, Moore worked to inform, empower and connect others.
EVANSTON, ILL. -- Nellie Moore (Iñupiaq) has been selected by the The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) as the recipient of the 2024 IJA-Medill Milestone Achievement Award.
The IJA-Medill Milestone Achievement Award honors an individual who has made a lasting effect on media for the benefit of Indigenous communities and the general public relative to Indigenous peoples. It celebrates and encourages responsible storytelling and journalism in Indian Country.
Moore passed away on Feb. 10, 2024, but her legacy is still with the IJA community.
“Nellie’s dedication and experience in the field has opened doors for the next generation of journalists,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “Although she is no longer with us, her contributions continue to make a difference. Medill is dedicated to highlighting the work of Native journalists and is proud to partner with IJA on this award.”
Throughout her 44-year journalism career, Moore worked to inform, empower and connect others. She was not afraid to leave her mark on the world, which was epitomized in her traditional radio and television signoff: "I'm Nellie Moore."
“Nellie Moore was a legendary journalist and mentor for Alaska and beyond during her career,” said Shyanne Beatty (Hän Hwëch’in Athabascan) a former board member of the IJA. “As one of the only working journalists during her Alaska career, she understood the urgency of ensuring that newsrooms across the state were equipped with reporters from the diverse Indigenous population of Alaska. Nellie inspired me and so many others to uphold journalistic ethics, while ensuring Natives were included in policy or decisions that impacted their community or way of life.”
“Nellie was instrumental in bringing Native voices to the airwaves nationally, as the host and producer of National Native News, a five-minute news program,” Beatty said. “She created a strong foundation for Alaska public radio newsrooms, connecting print to Native radio stations throughout the state where 27 radio stations cover five major cultural regions, with 21 distinct dialects of language.”
Moore started a local newspaper and in 1973 she served, initially, as a reporter and then as station manager for Kotzebue's KOTZ Radio. During her tenure, she covered public affairs, local news and some of the first Inupiat programming from the area.
In 1983, Moore joined the Northwest Arctic TV Center and produced video programs to preserve Inupiat knowledge, such as traditional healing practices, subsistence skills and profiles of Inupiat leaders. Copies of these programs are in museum collections located in New Zealand, Canada, Norway, and Alaska. In 1986, Moore co-produced six TV segments for Sesame Street, accurately depicting the Inupiat people from Kotzebue and Noatak. She hosted and produced a five-part series on the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act that is still used to educate high school and university students.
Moore received The Alaska Press Club's Public Service Award in 1984 and 1986; The Native American Journalists Association's Wassaja Award in 2001; and the University of Oregon's Ancil Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism in 2001.
Moore will be recognized during the IJA Membership Meeting on Friday, July 26 as part of the 2024 Indigenous Media Conference at the Omni Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City.
Obituary was provided by Anchorage Daily News.
