Brandon Ecoffey

A note from the editor’s desk
By Brandon Ecoffey
Lakota Country Times Editor
www.lakotacountrytimes.com

At Lakota Country Times we have long understood that many of our readers do not have access to the internet.

The reality facing the vast majority of people who pick up our paper this week is that the communities they come from do not have access to high speed internet and many live in places where even cell phone services is limited. Being that we are a local paper with a preponderance of local news it has been easy to stay focused on our community members and the lives they live on a daily basis.

One of the many things that we have learned however, is that people from all over the world are interested in reading news about Lakota people and about the governance of our nations. Although there are people who will pick up press releases with news involving our communities we are the only paper in the nation that has writers who have actually been raised in the communities we serve.

A screenshot of the Lakota Country Times app.

The uniqueness of our perspective is what makes us different from everyone else reporting on news from Lakota Country. With that in mind we know that it is vitally important that we make accurate news about our community available to those living in our communities and those living off the reservation. So we invested a ton of man hours and finances in to the creation of a Lakota Country Times mobile app. This app enables our readers to read Lakota Country Times on any mobile device out there and it can be acquired free of charge in both the Apple Store and in the Google Store on your phone or tablet.

This step is a major step forward for all of us here at Lakota Country Times as we are the first in Lakota Country to take this unprecedented step of distributing hyper-local news from Rosebud, Pine Ridge, Eagle Butte and other Lakota reservations directly in to the hands of people all over the world.

Additionally, we were the first paper on the plains to make a significant investment into social media. Currently we have nearly 175,000 Facebook and Twitter followers and we will continue to grow in this realm. I am often amazed when we have weeks where our Facebook has been viewed by more than 10 million people. It is humbling to think that so many people come to us for news about our homelands. Like most small papers though, we will need the help of our local readers to continue to expand and draw advertisers to fund these endeavors.

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So the next time you have your phone out and you are wondering about the actions of tribal council, local hoops standings, or the next major Native news event remember that you can get your hands on our app in a matter of seconds.

We look forward to sharing stories about what our people are doing to a wider range of audience and we hope that you can help us spread the word.

(Brandon Ecoffey is the editor of LCT and an award winning journalist who was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Brandon earned his education at Dartmouth College where he studied in Native American Studies and Political Theory.)

Find the award-winning Lakota Country Times on the Internet, Facebook and Twitter and download the new Lakota Country Times app today.