Eleven tribal and multicultural news organizations across Southern California have formed the Southern California Indigenous Media Collaborative (SIMC), centering Native and Indigenous voices. The project is anchored by American Community Media (ACoM), with support from the UC Berkeley Local News Fellowship Program and the Maynard Institute.
Born from the historic January 2026 media summit on the Pala Reservation, SIMC unites Native American, Latino, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Arab American, and African diaspora newsrooms in reporting from and about Indigenous communities — exposing news deserts, language barriers, emergency communication failures, and the statistical erasure that leaves Native populations invisible in public data.
Voices of the Coalition
- Rose Davis, Publisher, Indian Voices / Indigenous Network: “Independent and tribal media worked in silos while our communities endured the same invisibility. Together, we turn scattered voices into an unbreakable alliance.”
- Eric Ortega, Pala Band of Mission Indians cultural leader, RezRadio: “True sovereignty begins with telling our own stories on our own terms. This collaborative ensures Indigenous wisdom leads the narrative — not trails it.”
- Pamela Anchang, Editor, The Immigrant Magazine: “Sacred tribal land reminded us our ancestral roots share one heartbeat. Immigrant and Indigenous communities aren’t separate — we’re relatives united in the fight for dignity.”
- Hector Felix, Editor, El Informador del Valle: “English-only disaster alerts create lethal blackouts for Indigenous farmworkers. SIMC coordinates across newsrooms to demand language justice.”
- Julian Travis Do, Co-Director, American Community Media (ACoM): “Community and tribal newsrooms have long informed California’s most vulnerable populations with fragmented resources and little support. SIMC changes that — turning individual resilience into collective power. Our shared Central Desk, backed by UC Berkeley fellows and Maynard Institute training, bridges language divides so no community faces an information blackout during a crisis.”
Coalition Members
Indian Voices / Indigenous Network, RezRadio (Pala), First Nations Experience (FNX), Radio Indígenas, Filipino Press, El Informador del Valle, Impulso Newspaper, Nguoi Viet Daily News, Myanmar Gazette, Al Enteshar Newspaper, and The Immigrant Magazine.
What’s Next
With Maynard Institute training and UC Berkeley Local News Fellowship editorial support, coordinated by ACoM, SIMC will drive reporting collaboration, trans-create content across Indigenous and heritage languages, and syndicate reporting across print, digital, and tribal airwaves.
Photo: Historic adobe house on the Pala Reservation (now used for meetings) and where the SIMC was formed in 2026 at Pala Rez radio, from Pala Band Facebook page.
