Brian Bull interviews Ryan RedCorn at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival before the premiere of "Between Two Knees" in April 2019. RedCorn wrote the play with fellow members of the sketch comedy troupe the 1491s. (Photo credit: Margaret Bull)
Award-winning journalist Brian Bull has joined Buffalo’s Fire as a senior reporter. A member of the Nez Perce Tribe, he brings to the team nearly three decades of experience in the journalism industry.
Bull spent many of those years in public radio. “I’m looking forward to contributing my experience and my talents toward the publication and maybe even expanding it a little bit through my audio and video skills,” he said. “This could include news videos of special events or sharing voices through audio links.”
Bull will report from Eugene, Oregon, on various topics relevant to Native communities. Look for him to cover everything from environmental stewardship to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis. “There’s just a giant grab bag of notable topics and events and issues that we have all over Indian Country,” he said.
“Being able to convey information from one generation to the next accurately and authentically, and sharing the values and history and great events, was something that elders took very seriously”
Brian Bullsenior reporter at Buffalo’s Fire, member of the Nez Perce tribe
Before starting with Buffalo’s Fire, Bull taught audio storytelling and public affairs journalism at the University of Oregon. He got his start in journalism in the mid-90s, volunteering and interning for public and community radio stations. In 1999, he filed his first feature for National Public Radio. He has since filed dozens more and worked in various roles at NPR affiliates, including news director, assistant news director, and general assignment reporter.
“Our team at Buffalo’s Fire is honored to have Brian Bull working with us,” said Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, executive director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance and editor-in-chief at Buffalo’s Fire. “He’s a highly respected journalist with decades of experience reporting among Native communities.
Brian Bull anchors the radio show All Things Considered for WCPN in Cleveland circa 2012. (Photo Photo courtesy of Brian Bull)
“We’re looking forward to him telling the stories that inform and unite those who seek a higher quality of life,” said Spotted Bear. “And that’s precisely what we do as journalists. We amplify voices in our communities so people are heard, we listen and we share information so we can all find a better way to be part of a just society.”
Bull’s public radio reporting has been recognized with four national Edward R. Murrow Awards. His journalism has also been featured in the Indigenous news outlets Underscore Native News and ICT, as well as in mainstream dailies, including The Oregonian and the Eugene Register-Guard.
“And that’s precisely what we do as journalists. We amplify voices in our communities so people are heard, we listen and we share information so we can all find a better way to be part of a just society.”
Jodi Rave Spotted Bearexecutive director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance and editor-in-chief at Buffalo’s Fire
Journalism wasn’t the career Bull had imagined growing up in Idaho with a father who wrote sports and features for the Lewiston Morning Tribune. But halfway through a master’s program in counseling psychology, he realized he, too, wanted to tell stories.
“One of the things I like about journalism, especially broadcast journalism, is the tradition of oral narrative that is very important to Native people, including my tribe,” he said. “Being able to convey information from one generation to the next accurately and authentically, and sharing the values and history and great events, was something that elders took very seriously.
“Being able to carry that on through in my role as a journalist has been very meaningful for me” Bull said, “as is carrying the stories of Native people.”
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