TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The Cherokee Nation and the Cherokee Phoenix will continue their partnership in providing free subscriptions for Cherokee Nation citizens to the award-winning newspaper through 2024.
The Free Phoenix for All Program, now entering its third year, has provided nearly 80,000 households with a free newspaper subscription in 2023. Households that receive the paper in 2023 will automatically receive it in 2024, and citizens who do not receive the paper can still opt-in for a free subscription by visiting https://gadugiportal.cherokee.org/. Citizens who will be 65 or older in 2024 will be automatically opted in for a free subscription.
The deadline to opt in for a free subscription is Oct. 31 and free subscriptions are limited to one per household.
The program utilizes federal funding under the American Recovery Plan Act as part of Cherokee Nation’s COVID-19 Respond, Recover and Rebuild plan.
“Cherokee Nation Deputy Chief Bryan Warner, the Tribal Council and I are proud of the Free Phoenix for All Program and excited to continue it in the coming year. We believe it is important to keep Cherokee citizens informed and provide them with relevant, factual and timely information,” Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. “We are able to provide this project thanks to support from the Council and funding set aside within the $3.8B Cherokee Nation Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget – the largest budget in the tribe’s history. When our Cherokee traditions and lifeways were being threatened in the 19th century, Indian Country’s oldest independent newspaper was a crucial source of information to Cherokee citizens and played a key role in the survival of our Nation. Today, the Cherokee Phoenix continues to provide important information to Cherokee citizens all across the world.”
The Free Phoenix for All program was first introduced in December 2021 and offered a free one-year Cherokee Phoenix subscription to more than 200,000 Cherokee households in all 50 states across the U.S. as well as U.S. and Canada territories.
“The Cherokee Nation Free Phoenix for All Program will ensure all of our citizens have easy access to tribal activities, events and resources,” Deputy Chief Warner said. “I encourage all Cherokee citizens to sign up on the Gadugi Portal for another free subscription.”
In 2023, the Cherokee Phoenix received several awards for its news coverage and design, including being a newspaper of the year and website of the year finalist in the 2023 Great Plains Journalism Awards. The newspaper also received the first-place award for general excellence in TV and second place in general excellence in print/online from the Native American Journalists Association.
“The Free Phoenix for All Program has been a successful program for helping keep Cherokee citizens informed, and I’m so pleased that the Cherokee Nation and Cherokee Phoenix have worked together to continue this important program for another year,” Speaker of the Tribal Council Mike Shambaugh said. “For many citizens of our nation, especially our at-large citizens and our elders, the Cherokee Phoenix is a vital connection to their tribe.”
In 2022, the Cherokee Phoenix was named best newspaper at the Oklahoma SPJ Pro Chapter awards banquet. Staff members of the Cherokee Phoenix also received several individual awards for their work.
“We at the Cherokee Phoenix strive every day to produce the highest quality of journalism for our Cherokee Nation citizens, because it is what both the citizen and legacy of this newspaper deserve,” Cherokee Phoenix Executive Editor Tyler Thomas said. “This innovative partnership has allowed us to share our award-winning work with so many more citizens across the country. I am very proud that we will be able to continue that in 2024.”
For more information on the Cherokee Nation Gadugi Portal, call 918-453-5058. For more information on the Cherokee Phoenix, call 918-453-5269.