By ROBERT JUMPER
Tutiyi (Snowbird) and Clyde, N.C.
I rarely do this, but I think we have come to an appropriate time. I have watched as some have commented on “investigative reporting” and why we don’t do more of it. They imply that either there is a lack of interest in providing that type of reporting or that somehow there is a pressure or lean toward upholding or towing the “company line” when it comes to issues involving tribal officials and their actions. Neither opinion is accurate.
I have a philosophy on this issue that I would like to expound on: that those who can, do. And those who can’t (or won’t) criticize those who do.
Interestingly, some of those criticisms come from those who, while in office or holding appointed positions, showed little interest in government transparency, ignored public information requests, and spouted the same “we can’t release” this or that line because “they” are watching us. It would be amusing if it were not so frightening how individuals suddenly find and adopt a position of high ethical responsibility after they leave a position. How much more effective would their stance for justice have been had they stood for and provided information to the community while they were in a position of power from inside the government?
Matters of the deep state in tribal governments and the challenges in “investigative reporting” for journalists on the Qualla Boundary, whether as part of the tribal media or an outside news organization, are far different from that of reporting on local municipal, state, and federal governments. Tribal governments exert much more control over the communities they oversee than your typical town or county government. That control extends to the rights of free speech and free press.
If you have a doubt, take a look at the Public Records law outlined in Cherokee Code and compare it to the North Carolina Public Records Law (State Statute 132. Ironically, and probably not coincidentally, Cherokee Code gives its public records direction in Chapter 132).
Here is a quote from the state statute, “The public records and public information compiled by the agencies of North Carolina government, or its subdivisions are the property of the people. Therefore, it is the policy of this state that the people may obtain copies of their public records and public information.”
Any meeting where decisions may be made by officials of a governing body in the state of N.C. public attendance is mandated, even if the meeting is held remotely. And communications between public officials that relate to public business “is a public record even if it is sent from a home computer or made on a personal email account from any device. This is true whether the email is sent or received by any public employee, or any elected or appointed public official” (UNC School of Government). You will not find that stipulation in the Cherokee Code.
Our government functions very differently from municipal or even state governments. More like a nation (because we are one), and yet still charged with individual cares of constituents, our leadership, Ugvwiyuhi (Chief), Taline Ugvwiyu (Vice Chief), and Dinilawigi (Tribal Council), bounces from dealing with heads of sovereign nations on an international stage to trying to find out if Uncle Joe’s driveway got paved last week. That is the scope of their power and the level of detail they must address to do the job right.
Regarding free speech and free press, the federal government devoted an amendment to their constitution (their primary governing document), and this is how it reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. (Constitution of the United States-First Amendment).” The Charter of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (our governing document) has no such language. The Cherokee Code, which is the purveyor of tribal member privileges, is where you will find the only references to the privilege of the public to access governmental information (remember, a right may not be taken away by the government, whereas a privilege may easily be taken away. Rights are in the Charter. Privileges are in the Code).
Most criticism of a lack of investigative reporting at the One Feather will typically come as some sort of response to an opinion piece, possibly as a social media comment. Try as I might, I cannot get some folks to understand the difference between articles (reporting of fact) and commentary (expressing of opinion). I see the functionality of the One Feather in two ways based on my interpretation of what our lawmakers intended for the One Feather to do.
Chapter 75-2 of the Cherokee Code states, “It shall be the policy of the Cherokee One Feather to publish news articles and other materials and information judged by the editorial staff to have general value to the Cherokee community and Business Committee actions and actions taken by other Tribal committees, boards, and enterprises” (EBCI Code of Ordinances). I see “news articles” as factual documentations, current history if you will, where opinion has no place, except clearly marked quotations of those involved in an incident. Reporters should not infuse an article with their “perspective” on what they are seeing and documenting. Purely note-takers of history and educators of fact to the community. I see “other materials and information” as the second half of the One Feather’s charge, to be an open forum for public opinion on those issues relevant to our community.
My desire is to get as many voices from our community to share their thoughts on any issue “of general value to the Cherokee community”. I have stated over and over again that if I or any commentator doesn’t write on a topic that you are interested in, simply write one yourself. Commentaries and letters to the editor are opinion pieces and everyone has an opinion. And it is part of our job to get those opinions into the public forum. My job as editor is to make sure that articles do not become commentaries and that commentaries do not get mistaken for articles.
Some insinuations of graft and corruption presented to the One Feather as fact haven’t even been reported to the proper authorities, indicating to me that the accusations don’t have a foundation strong enough to support the theory and those presenting those views hope to have those allegations judged or validated using public media to win support.
In my years with the One Feather, I have seen quite a bit of internal wrangling of gossip, with several people attempting to make people believe by crying investigation. Don’t get me wrong. I believe that each of us has at least one element of good and an element of evil. The question is always which is more predominant in an individual. I also believe the same holds true for the government. No government is entirely good nor entirely evil. And as we, in the media, look at a situation, we must try to determine, in a very restrictive tribal information environment whether what we are seeing is a smoking gun, or someone simply blowing smoke. Investigative reporting also requires a high level of human resources, a level of manpower that is not availed to local tribal media. Not just at EBCI, but for many tribes in Indian Country.
What passes for investigative reporting in most mainstream media is gossip tagged as an article. The media in general has allowed commentary and speculative analytics to invade news gathering. I hate to break it to you this way but not everything you see and read on the Internet (or on Sirius or cable) is true and unbiased, even if it comes from your best friend. If someone has tasted sour grapes, they are always willing to share. Unfortunately, we have become so accustomed to being satisfied and having our ears tickled that we will basically believe any person or entity that supports our already existent belief. We have turned into media zombies, absorbing anything that looks brainy.
So, we will continue to strive to provide our people with an outstanding paper. Our staff does an awesome job for our community. I am not bragging because I only see myself as a support for the amazing writing and photography that you see every week and that has received recognition for decades at the state level and in Indian Country. Our challenge has been and for the years to come will be to parse information and opinion. Some will agree with me that we do that well, while others will still condemn what they don’t understand. As the old saying goes, the dog that grows is the one that you feed.
