IndiJ Public Media names Katie Oyan CEO

IndiJ Public Media has named Associated Press Deputy Director of Local News Success Katie Oyan its new CEO, president and chief editorial officer. 

Oyan, who starts June 23, replaces Karen Lincoln Michel, who is stepping down as CEO after being at the helm since 2020, according to a news release. 

“When I started a succession plan more than two years ago, I had hoped to hand the torch to an emerging leader with strong Indigenous values,” Michel said in the release. “My hope has been realized, and I am thrilled for Katie.”

Oyan, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has spent about 20 years at the AP. In 2020, she was managing editor of Indian Country Today, now IndiJ’s flagship ICT, through a partnership with the AP, the release said. 

“I am humbled and honored to be returning to this storied institution, which has its roots in my homeland of South Dakota and has served as a connective tissue to so many Indigenous people in so many places over the years,” Oyan said in the release. 

Oyan has also worked as AP’s West desk editor and as a reporter and editor in California, Montana and Colorado, the release said. 

“This is a critical moment for Indian Country and Katie is ideally suited to meet the challenge,” said IndiJ Public Media’s board chair Mark Trahant in the release.