Underscore Media Collaboration

Underscore Native News is also listed as a member of the Indigenous Journalists Association, Institute for Nonprofit News, LION Publishers, and the Rural News Network. The group claims that nonprofit news models are more effective than traditional media, and several of the outlet’s goals include increasing “diversity” in the media as well as creating a more “equitable media ecosystem.”  ¹

Background

The Underscore Media Collaboration is a left-of-center nonprofit that runs Underscore Native News, an Indigenous-focused media outlet that reports on Native American communities within the Pacific Northwest. The group is a member of the Indigenous Journalists Association, Institute for Nonprofit News, LION Publishers, and the Rural News Network.  ¹

According to its website, several of the group’s “values” include “Justice and equity,” “Indigeneity and Solidarity” and “Trauma-informed.”  ¹ In addition, the organization’s website claims it aims to prove “innovative nonprofit models offer a better path forward for a news industry in crisis” and to create a “more “equitable media ecosystem.”  ¹

Activities

According to its website, Underscore Native News reports on four main Native American-related topics: “Culture,” “Justice,” “Land,” and “People.” The group also publishes a weekly newsletter.  ²

Under the group’s “Justice” hub, the outlet has categories for health care, federal policy, education, boarding schools, “MMIR” (“Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives”), and “LGBTQIA2S+.”  ³

Under the group’s “Land” hub, the outlet has categories for “land back,” “climate change,” and “green energy.”  ⁴

Underscore Native News runs an indigenous journalism fellowship for college-age or early career indigenous journalists who participate in a 10-week training program. The group claims that this program is intended to increase Indigenous representation in newsrooms.  ⁵  The group also organizes indigenous cultural literacy training for journalists.  ⁵

Funding

In 2024, the Underscore Media Collaboration received a two-year, $150,000 grant from the Ford Foundation.  ⁶

Leadership

Myers Reece is the executive director of Underscore Native News. Prior to this, he was a founding member and managing editor of the Flathead Beacon in Montana. As of May 2026, Reece was also on the board of the Asian American Journalists Association Portland as vice president of fundraising.  ⁷

Casey Pearlman is the chair of the board for Underscore Native News.  ⁸ Pearlman is also listed as executive director of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Development Corporation. Previously, she had been a project manager at Counseling Services of Portland and was on the board for the Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship.  ⁹