To advance the creation of participatory and sustainable media throughout Native America, Native Public Media will create a comprehensive blueprint that articulates a vision of what Native media could become and that delineates diverse, customizable, culturally appropriate and scalable strategies for getting there.

The need for a blueprint is especially urgent given the dramatic changes in the media industry and the proliferation of new media outlets. While some assessments of Native media have been conducted, no such blueprint exists for Native America.

While radio has traditionally been, and will continue to be, a vital communications tool in Native America, many Tribes do not currently have access to radio spectrum and many never will.  A Media Blueprint developed for Native America will show how broadband technologies can provide important opportunities both to extend the reach of Native radio and to enable Tribes without radio to inform, support and engage their communities.

Access to broadband media technologies is essential for Native America.  Increasingly the nerve center of national and global communications, broadband technologies are driving the ways Americans - and indeed, people all over the world - do business, learn, work and communicate.  A 2006 United Nations report went so far as to compare access to new digital technologies to access to water and electricity.  And, the report noted, those who have access will have greater opportunity, while those who do not will fall further behind.

The Native Public Media blueprint will serve as both guide and plan.  It will include diverse media models designed to meet and accommodate various community needs and resources.  It will offer guidance on business plans, standard operating procedures, and First Amendment issues.  The blueprint will form the foundation for Native Public Media's direct consultative work with Native Nations, Native organizations, and diverse Native communities as they explore and pursue the media strategies and opportunities that best fit their needs, resources and goals.

NPM's Blueprint Project has received funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Benton Foundation.