Mark Trahant is an independent writer, teacher and a “Twitter poet.” He is currently Editor in Residence at the University of Idaho, School of Journalism and Mass Media. He was a 2009 Kaiser Media Fellow and is writing about health care reform with the focus of learning from programs the government already operates, such as the Indian Health Service. Trahant recently completed a monograph on the legacy of Sen. Henry M. Jackson. “Scoop” Jackson was
well known for his work on the environment and in the international arena. Less well known is his legacy on American Indian policy. He was the sponsor of a series of major reforms ranging from the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. Trahant was a visiting lecturer for a course he developed called “Twitter & Democracy” at the University
of Colorado at Boulder. The course raised questions about how a nation can tell its story in 140
characters. It explored the relationship between social media and the news media. The course began
with a history of media change, and then followed how the values of professional media are being
rewritten, ignored or transmitted through social media, including MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.
He will teach a shorter version of the class at the University of Idaho in the Spring of 2010 and will participate in the UI’s Borah Symposium. Trahant also writes “news poems” on Twitter, four line rhymesbased on current news events under the handle, “NewsRimes4lines.”