[env-trinity] Times Standard- Two Rivers Tribune controversy sparks First Amendment debate

[Tom Stokely]

Two Rivers Tribune controversy sparks First Amendment debate; Editor: Did the council want a newsletter or did it want a newspaper?

Kaci Poor/The Times-Standard
Posted: 07/06/2011 02:30:09 AM PDT
http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_18417037 

Click photo to enlarge

Allie Hostler, interim manager of the Two Rivers Tribune, stood before the Hoopa Valley Tribal council Tuesday morning and posed a question: Did the council want a newsletter or did it want a newspaper?
Hostler's question is central to a debate that came to a head Friday afternoon when Tribal Chairman Leonard Masten sent a memo to Hostler informing her that the tribe's newspaper was to be shut down immediately. The memo cited financial issues and disagreement over controversial articles.
Masten called for the staff of the Two Rivers Tribune to create a plan outlining how they would correct the newspapers deficiencies at Tuesday's meeting.
According to a copy of the memo sent to the Times-Standard, Masten said the tribe was losing money by subsidizing the paper, but also pointed to recent controversial articles focused on marijuana issues and an interview with Bruce “Jason” Stallings-Hunsucker, a man wanted for his alleged involvement in the shooting death of a well-respected Willow Creek resident.
At the meeting -- a first for some members of the council who were sworn in Friday -- tribal members stepped forward to voice their support for the weekly newspaper.
”The tribal chambers were packed to standing room only. Some people were even out in the lobby,” said former Councilwoman Marcelene Norton, who termed out Thursday after serving for two years. Norton said that while some of the newspaper's articles had sparked controversy over the years, that wasn't a bad thing.
”I think the outcry of supporters that I saw today -- even those opposed to some of the controversial issues -- is a healthy indication of how the community feels about the newspaper,” Norton said.
Norton said she spoke before the council to remind them that Masten's decision to terminate the paper was not made with the consensus of the council.
According to Norton, the council had a discussion concerning the Two Rivers Tribune at a special meeting held last Wednesday but that no conclusive decision was made to close the newspaper, which has been in operation for nearly 20 years.
Vice Chairman Byron Nelson Jr., one of the members of the council who expressed concerns about the paper at Wednesday's meeting, said that he did not expect Masten to close it.
Nelson did, however, express frustration with the staff of the Two Rivers Tribune after Tuesday's meeting.
”I had conveyed to the interim managing editor, Allie, before that this didn't need to become a cause on their part when it could be worked out administratively,” Nelson said, referring to media attention the newspaper received over the weekend and a Facebook page staff members created.
”No other department can do that if they are disciplined -- go to the media and try to gain support,” Nelson said. “Right now, if they want to make a cause out of it, that paper can stop and never come back into existence. I told them not to make threats.”
Nelson believes that the manager of the paper needs to come forth and work with the council. “There needs to be compromises on both sides,” Nelson said.
According to Nelson, the purpose of Tuesday's meeting was to get the paper back online so “that it could work through whatever the freedom of the press and First Amendment issues were.”
For Hostler -- who said that First Amendment rights in the tribe are a gray area -- it's been a struggle and a challenge to work within the tribal community as a journalist.
”I learned over the years how important free speech really is to a democracy,” Hostler said. “I feel robbed as a tribal member that my tribal government doesn't recognize those rights. It's a sad day when they can censor the paper.”
Kevin R. Kemper -- a research fellow for the Native American Journalists Association and an assistant journalism professor at the University of Arizona -- agreed. He said this is an issue that tribes have been struggling with for years.
”It looks to me like what the tribe did is illegal,” said Kemper, who has a law degree but is not a practicing attorney.
”The tribal journalists have press rights, but even further, the tribe itself has a right to have a newspaper,” Kemper said. “Journalism has to be protected for native people, whether it is good or bad. Shutting down the newspaper is, I believe, illegal and grossly inappropriate.”
Hostler isn't sure what answer the council will give to her question. She doesn't even know if the paper's staff will be getting a paycheck. But, Hostler said she does know one thing -- the council needs to hurry up and decide.
”I urge the Tribal Council to move quickly,” Hostler said. “Newspapers come out weekly. Newsletters come out whenever you want them to.”

BOX: At a glance: Hoopa Valley Tribe bylaw

Section 1. The Hoopa Valley Tribe, in exercising its powers of self-government, shall not:
a. Make or enforce any law prohibition the free exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble and to petition for a redress of grievances;

Source: Hoopa Valley Tribe Constitutional Bylaws
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