Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, at Will Rogers Theatre in Oklahoma City
The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) is partnering with the Oklahoma Media Center (OMC) on a collaborative fundraiser screening of the film “Bad Press” at the Will Rogers Theatre in Oklahoma City on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, at 5:30 p.m.
Many citizens don’t realize the importance of local news remaining independent from government rule. That’s particularly true in Oklahoma, where more than 90 percent of the federally recognized sovereign nations do not have a constitutionally protected free press reporting on their tribes.
To expand that message to a wider audience and support the Indigenous Journalists Association, OMC is partnering with IJA for a collaborative fundraiser screening of the film “Bad Press”. The acclaimed documentary chronicles the struggle within the Muscogee Nation to establish a constitutional right to a free press and stars OMC Treasurer and IJA board member Angel Ellis, director of Mvskoke Media. When the tribe began censoring its free press, Ellis fought to expose her government’s corruption in a historic battle with ramifications for all of Indian Country.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Ellis and the 2025 IJA Tim Giago Free Press Awardee Troy Littledeer (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians), currently a reporter for Osage news, along with the film’s co-director and producer, Rebecca Landsberry-Baker (Muscogee Nation), who is also the executive director of IJA.
Attendees will also have the chance to mingle over heavy hors d’oeuvres and drinks.
