“Independent Media Can Strengthen Tribal Sovereignty”: Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler on Bad Press

While freedom of the press has certainly been a newsworthy topic these past few years, those of us in the US can at least take comfort in (i.e., take for granted) the fact that our First Amendment firmly protects this inalienable right. That is, unless you happen to likewise be a citizen of one of the sovereign nations sprinkled throughout this occupied land — aka Indian Country — where only a handful of tribes have seen fit to enshrine such a guarantee into their constitutions. Which is a problem not just for the average, truth-seeking Native populace at large, but especially for a dogged reporter like Angel Ellis — the hard-hitting star of Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler’s Sundance-debuting documentary Bad Press — and her often embattled colleagues at Mvskoke Media in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. Just prior to the film’s January 22 premiere as part of the festival’s U.S. Documentary Competition, Filmmaker caught up with the co-directors to learn all about their under-reported journey down a rabbit hole in our own backyard; one in which independent media, and even elections, can be too easily coopted by government leaders behind closed doors.

To read my interview visit Filmmaker magazine.