User:Crtew/Paul DeMain

Paul DeMain, (October, 8, 1955 – ), is an award-winning journalist and editor located in Hayward, Wisconsin, United States. Paul DeMain is known for being an outstanding editor of a Native American newspaper located in Hayward and has won awards for his journalism about Native American justice, through his job of being an editor and journalist.

Personal
Paul DeMain is a well-known journalist because of his pursuit to always write about the truth. After many years of supporting and defending the American Indian Movement, he eventually found that he could not support the organization in every article. When writing about the 1975 killing of two FBI agents, he chose to write about the truth of the investigations, instead of continuing to write positively of the American Indian Movement. In addition, Paul DeMain has been awarded for his articles that have fought for justice for Native Americans. DeMain recognizes that Native Americans are often discriminated against and has chosen to create a career or himself that he can use as a platform to help other Native Americans.

Career
Paul DeMain has had a very successful career while writing about the truth. DeMain is known for his newspaper articles about Leonard Peltier, the American Indian Movement, and the shooting of two FBI agents. In 1975 on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation, two FBI agents were shot and killed. Leonard Peltier was convicted of killing the two FBI agents and was served two life sentences. Indian journalist, Paul DeMain, spent numerous years defending Leonard Peltier and the American Indian Movement. Yet, his opinion on the subject changed drastically in 2002 and his newspaper articles began to be written from a point of view that believed Peltier should have been convicted. Paul DeMain had investigated the facts of the situation and began to write about the truth. News from Indian Country, the newspaper that Paul DeMain edits, began to share stories alleging Peltier killed the two FBI agents. Peltier sued DeMain in 2003 for libel, yet DeMain still persistently wrote about the truth of the matter. DeMain defended the American Indian Movement for many years, but he felt he needed to report the truth in this situation and chose to show who was at fault in the situation.

Context
In May 2003, Leonard Peltier sued Paul DeMain for libel based upon the newspaper articles that Paul DeMain had written for News From Indian Country. This was quite a risk for Paul DeMain's career, because it could potentially cause the public to find DeMain's work not trustworthy or fact-based information. Yet, Paul DeMain had investigated the situation prior to writing about it and felt that he needed to write the truth. DeMain wrote that Peltier was involved in the killing of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash. Peltier eventually agreed to dismiss the case in June 2004.

Impact
Paul DeMain is important, not only for his countless informative articles, but for the drive he had to report the truth. Even after Peltier sued DeMain, he continued to report facts and the truth in order for justice to be served. Today, many of the various media outlets do not report the truth and, instead, report the news in their point of view, rather than reporting the facts. The media is more focused on the number of viewers there are, rather than giving the American people the real facts and truths, which is why Paul DeMain is such a respected and inspirational journalist.

Awards
Delete these instructions after completion: List all of the awards won, the year, and a citation for each. These are also listed briefly in the infobox.
 * Wassaja Award (2002)
 * Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism (2003)

TEMPORARY URL HOLDER
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 * nativehero (full)
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 * award
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 * ajrarchive
 * nytimes1
 * nytimes2
 * wpr
 * indiancountrymedianetwork1
 * poynter
 * yankton
 * rcfp
 * inthesetimes (abbr)
 * trib
 * indiancountrymedianetwork2
 * frontpagemag
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 * michiganradio
 * book