The annual Oppenheimer Ethics Symposium will debut a film called “Bad Press” directed by Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Peeler. This film made its first appearance at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023.
The film will be shown at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, April 9 at 6:30 p.m. Admissions for this event is free and donations will be accepted which go to the Ingenious Journalists Association. Attendees can expect a Q and A with the directors and Angel Ellis, a tribal journalist.
Landsberry-Baker, Executive Director of the Indigenous Journalists Association will lead a panel discussion. This panel will be held with members of the Inland Northwest tribes at 12:30 p.m. in the White Water room of the ISUB.
“[The film] brings together media law, media ethics, and professional practices,” Kenton Bird, a professor at UI and the co-founder of the symposium said. “And focusing on the particular challenges of journalists in tribal communities.”
“Access to accurate and ethical reporting about Indigenous people and communities is necessary to overcome biases and stereotypes portrayed in mainstream media,” Landsberry-Baker said in the news release by UI. “Accurate news and information are essential to an educated citizenry and healthy democracy.”
Many issues in the film center around conflicts within the Muscogee Nation.
“I had heard about the issues at the Muscogee Nation,” Dr. Bird said. “The conflict between the tribal media and the tribal council. It’s fairly common where the newspaper, magazine, or website is published by the tribal organization itself. But they sometimes have different goals and work for different purposes.”
The film was chosen for this year’s symposium because it ties in many different areas of journalism such as media law, ethics, and more.
“The lessons from this story have implications for not only other tribal communities but other places where journalists are struggling to tell the truth, ask tough questions, and engage with elected officials,” Dr. Bird said. “We want to call attention to the fact that there are places in this country where it is hard to exercise the freedom of the press.”
The symposium started in 2011.
“I was the director of the School of Journalism and Mass Media from 2003-2015,” Dr. Bird said. “About halfway through my time as director, we wanted to come up with some signature event. Something that would be associated with [JAMM].”
The dean of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences, Katherine Aken, also helped start this symposium with the support of UI graduates Doug and Arthur “Skip” Oppenheimer.
“We wanted something that will benefit undergraduate students at the University of Idaho,” Dr. Bird said.
Andrea Roberts can be reached at [email protected]