Associate Professor Rebecca Tallent co-hosted “Context and Communities Covered in Indian Country,” a presentation that gave an overview of the history of and issues within journalism in Native American nations at the Malcolm Renfrew Interdisciplinary Colloquium Tuesday.
Tallent presented with Ohio University’s Assistant Professor Victoria LaPoe, who presented via Zoom video conferencing. Both work for their respective schools of journalism. In their research, Tallent focuses on media law and history while LaPoe focuses on digital media and surveys. Tallent and LaPoe are both citizens of the Cherokee nation, which contributes to why both women feel passionate about journalism in Native American nations.
Tallent began the lecture with a brief history of journalism in Native American nations. According to Tallent, the first newspaper published by a Native American nation was the Cherokee Phoenix, which published from 1828 until 1836, when the office was raided and the press thrown into a lake. Tallent said most newspapers published within Native American nations since then have been owned and operated by tribes, but some are run by separate news organizations or public relations offices.
“About half of the federally recognized tribes in this country do not have a First Amendment clause,” Tallent said. “If you are a native journalist working in Indian country, you may or may not have the right to report. It depends on who you are and where you are. If you are non-tribal and you’re trying to cover things in Indian country, you really have no rights because, again, you’re on foreign soil.”
LaPoe spoke in pre-recorded segments about a survey she and Tallent conducted together.
The exploratory study focused on perspectives on objectivity and ethics within Native American journalism. LaPoe added that when the mainstream press finds the need to cover Native American stories, they must educate themselves about “tribal issues, culture and history” to ensure they cover the story respectfully.
“The editors need to understand that this is something that is a long-haul beat coverage, just like anything else, it’s not one-and-done,” LaPoe said. “That’s really important to develop and maintain relationships with tribes and their citizens for more complete and full coverage, so it’s not just one person speaking for everyone, that there are multiple opinions and views.”
Tallent feels that her work is important because Native American voices — including those in journalism — are often misunderstood.
“We’re a multicultural society,” Tallent said. “We can’t just say ‘well, all America is homogenous.’ If we’re going to work together, we need to understand each other.”
The next MRIC lecture will be held 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19 in the Haddock Performance Hall of the Lionel Hampton School of Music. “On Stage with a Jazz Combo” — one of the most popular sessions of the colloquium according to Kenton Bird, who co-hosts the colloquium — serves as a preview of the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. The audience will get the chance to sit amongst the musicians and learn about jazz “behind the scenes.”