BAD PRESS

Beyond Indian Country, touting the First Amendment is often something of a punchline—an excuse to say something brash, at worst. But at its best, the First Amendment guarantees some of our most beloved rights—the right to free speech and a free press.

While freedom of the press is guaranteed in the United States Constitution, it is not guaranteed in most Native American Tribes—themselves, independent sovereignties with their own legislative bodies and governments. Out of 574 federally-recognized tribes within the United States, only 5 have passed laws protecting freedom of the press.

The directorial debut of filmmaker Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and co-director, Joe Peeler, “Bad Press” follows one of these nations, Muscogee Creek, of which Landsberry-Baker is a tribeswoman. 

The documentary, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year, follows the phonetically spelled Mvskoke Media and its band of impassioned journalists as they take on their tribe’s National Council to demand that free press be enshrined as law by an amendment in the nation’s constitution.

The film makes its entry point in 2018, when Mvskoke Media is poised at the frontier of truth telling in Oklahoma’s Indian Country. Angel Ellis, a journalist and the heroine of the film, explains that while Native American tribes have a rich reporting and storytelling history, there is a tradition of manicuring ‘news’ stories to present an idealized image of nations’ leadership; churning out, what Ellis refers to, as “polished turds.” Ellis and her intrepid colleagues have made careers challenging that practice, reporting on instances of embezzlement, corruption, and even DUIs committed by tribal leaders.

But when Principal Chief of Muscogee Creek Nation, Lucian Tiger III—the golf-bag slinging, sports car-driving villain of the film—motions to repeal Muscogee Nation’s Free Press Act (1979), Ellis and her colleagues stake their jobs and reputations on reversing the decision. There’s incredible tension in the irony confronted by the Muscogee journalists—”How do you objectively cover a free press constitutional amendment?” asks reporter Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton.

What follows is a narrative about grassroots, fire-in-the-belly organization at its finest. While Bad Press is suspended in the mesh of a tightly-knit tribal community, it should resonate in every corner of America. It’s a story about why we need independent journalism, now more than ever, and the danger of discrediting those truths we find inconvenient—whether they be election results, or stories of corruption. 

There’s a great scene in the movie that follows David Hill—the lovable, blue collar challenger to Tiger in the 2019 election for a new Principal Chief. Hill, a proponent of the press, is centered in a background of power lines and Oklahoma highway with one of those chicken-wire campaign lawn signs, advertising his name. Maybe three minutes of footage are dedicated to Hill trying and failing to stake his sign down into the earth. When he finally does, Hill wipes at his brow, looks at the camera, and says “it’s like drilling for oil.”

The scene unfolds as something of a parable: what’s worth fighting for does not come easy, or even on the first try. Or that the democratic process is wrought with more futility than we would care to admit. If nothing else, it’s a reminder that there are still people in politics, like Hill, that we can stand to root for.

The foreground of political machinations and dauntless journalism in Bad Press are made hauntingly beautiful by images filmed at the heart of the reservation—listless rocking chairs on farmhouse porches and rusted Volkswagens in fields of cattle. Landsberry-Baker and Peeler’s filmmaking cater to the throughline of the documentary—that which is most ordinary is also most fundamental. Free speech is ill-dismissed by those of us who have never entertained the idea of its alternative—Bad Press presents free speech as a right in need of stewardship. And fierce stewardship, at that.

There’s no fun in spoiling what becomes of Ellis, Hill, or the freedoms for which they advocate. You can watch Bad Press at the upcoming Eastern Sierra Mountain Film Festival, October 4-7. For the screening schedule, and to purchase tickets, visit: https://filmfreeway.com/EasternSierraMountainFilmFestival.