In “Bad Press,” you witness the moment when the Muscogee (Creek) Nation loses true freedom of the press. It happens with shocking speed: the Muscogee National Council, in a listless 7-6 vote in 2018, repeals the tribe’s Free Press Act. The battle to claw back this right is the nerve-racking subject of this civic-minded documentary directed by Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, a Muscogee journalist, and Joe Peeler.
The film’s scrappy hero is Angel Ellis, a reporter for Mvskoke Media who has faced intimidation tactics while covering cases of embezzlement and sexual harassment. When the repeal puts her employer under tribal government oversight and its radio show shuts down, she makes the risky decision to speak out and rally for a constitutional amendment to enshrine freedom of the press. Such protections, the film explains, are rare among North American tribes.
Beyond her bravery and sharp analysis, Ellis makes for good copy, refusing to publish “polished turds” instead of bona fide journalism. The filmmakers also sketch in a gallery of genteel Muscogee politicians who telegraph varying support for the press as they jockey for votes in elections for chief. Ellis and others show that internal criticism can be a sensitive subject for tribes after centuries of challenges to sovereignty.
Landsberry-Baker and Peeler could linger more on details about the people involved instead of the horse-race suspense of vote counts. But who can blame them when freedom is in the balance, and as local media outlets dwindle nationally, the Muscogee voters’ defense of press freedoms sets a stirring example.
Bad Press
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 38 minutes. In theaters.