Reznet

An Obama Radio Ad in Navajo? Not So Far

By Sunnie Redhouse

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Navajos say they haven't heard Barack Obama on their radio stations, and officials at stations whose largest audience is members of the tribe concur.

In an article written by The Associated Press before the Democratic Party convention opened Monday, presidential hopeful Obama was said to have "run a radio ad in the Navajo language." But regular listeners said they have yet to hear Obama speaking their Native tongue.

"I haven't heard it," said Larry Jim, who listens to KNDN, the Navajo commercial AM station located in Farmington, N.M., off but near the Navajo Nation's sprawling reservation.

Jim, a Navajo, said he has listened to KNDN for many years and, like other regulars, contributes announcements in Navajo.

Carlos Sanchez, press secretary for Obama's New Mexico Campaign for Change, based in Albuquerque, said that while he is unsure that such a radio ad exists, he is certain that the campaign is interested in one.

"We do plan to spend some money on radio, and there is going to be a Native American component to that," Sanchez said, adding that the ad cited by The Associated Press may have been an exclusive copy not yet released.

In Farmington, Obama campaign officials said they, too, were unaware of such an ad but suggested that if one exists, it must have originated in Window Rock, Ariz., the Navajo Nation capital.

An official in charge of political ads for Clear Channel, which owns radio stations in Farmington, said the company has aired no ads in which Obama speaks Navajo.

At KTNN, established in Window Rock as a Navajo Nation Enterprise in 1985, Station Manager Jay Allen said the station has been trying to work with Obama's campaign to air ads but has had no luck. If there were an ad, he said, it should be specifically aimed at KTNN listeners.

"A lot of people will listen to the stuff that we're running," Allen said. "The Navajo people are looking for something that is geared and catered toward them."

Sunnie Redhouse, Navajo, reported from Salt Lake City, where she is interning at the Salt Lake Tribune, under the Sports Journalism Institute's internship program.