A Right to Media? Lorie M. Graham - Columbia Law School

2010] A RIGHT TO MEDIA? 481
Americans and Native American issues.” 199 The study found that the
vast majority of the articles fell into three topic areas: casino gaming
by indigenous nations, the controversy surrounding mascot team
names, and what were referred to in the study as “on the res”
stories. 200 While these topics are worthy of coverage, they are
arguably the issues most likely to engender negative feelings towards
Native Americans in the case of casinos and sports mascots, and
reinforce the stereotype of the “noble savage” in the case of “on the
res” stories.
Furthermore, news pertaining to issues relating to Native
American cultural survival and self-governance were reported with
less frequency and often relied on misinformation and simplistic
analysis of the subject matter. 201 How Native Americans are
portrayed in mainstream media impacts indigenous media by way of
shaping the images of Native Americans in the minds of nonindigenous
peoples, who are generally the people who influence the
administration of private grants and the allocation of federal funds.
Ultimately, if non-indigenous Americans view indigenous peoples in
a negative light or reduce their complexities to a one-dimensional
caricature, there will be little support for indigenous media projects.
Compounding the problem of misrepresentation is the fact that the
number of Native Americans participating in the mainstream press
continues to slip, and in 2005 was estimated to stand at a mere 295
people. 202
It seems unlikely that representation and participation of
Native Americans in mainstream media will improve without
increased federal guidance and involvement. Not surprisingly,
resistance to the regulation of mainstream media is strong in the
United States with much emphasis placed on one aspect of the right
to media, freedom of expression, and little attention paid to the other
key components, including the right to information and nondiscrimination.
It may be that the concerns over regulation are a bit
overblown in that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
already has the authority to regulate media, at least with respect to
radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. Perhaps instituting
something similar to the U.S. Fairness Doctrine could be one way to
199. Id. at VII.
200. Id. at VIII.
201. Id. at XI–XIII.
202. HearUsNow.org, Communities: Native American,
http://www.hearusnow.org/other/8/nativeamerican (last visited Feb. 5, 2010).