OKMULGEE – Citing negative stories and a desire to have all of its departments putting the same message forward, an Oklahoma tribe may be rolling back its press protections.

At an emergency meeting Thursday night, the Muscogee (Creek) National Council voted 7-6 to repeal its Free Press Act and tuck its independent media arm, Mvskoke Media, under the auspices of the executive branch’s Department of Commerce.

“This isn’t personal against the newspaper staff, but there’s just too much negativity in the newspaper,” Muskogee District Rep. Pete Beaver said. “There just needs to be more positive coverage.”

Joining Beaver in the vote to repeal the measure were Johnnie Greene, Darrell Proctor, Joyce Deere, James Jennings and Rufus Scott. With three council members absent, Speaker Lucian Tiger III cast the tie-breaking vote.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Adam Jones III, was not at the meeting and did not return calls on deadline for comment.

The measure will be placed before Principal Chief James Floyd for signature.

One of three Oklahoma tribes with codified press protections, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation adopted its Free Press Act in November 2015. It covers the tribe’s newspaper, weekly television show, radio program and graphic design shop.

After the meeting, Mvskoke Media’s manager, Sterling Cosper, tendered his resignation in protest of the vote. Cosper, his staff and members of Mvskoke Media’s three-member editorial board were not consulted during the bill’s drafting process and were not aware that the measure was even filed until less than 10 hours before the meeting started.

“I don’t agree with the actions that were taken tonight, but I respect the decision of my tribe’s government,” he said. “The work we’ve done as an independent outlet is not gone, but I do not want to be complicit in whatever comes out from this point forward.”

Norman attorney and free press researcher Kevin Kemper was among those in attendance Thursday night. One of the founders of the Native American Journalists Association’s legal hotline, Kemper said he could not recollect any instances of a tribe repealing its Free Press Act.

“I’m extremely concerned that this sets a terrible precedent for the rest of Indian Country,” he said. “I’m from rural Oklahoma. If you put a major improvement on a ranch, you don’t tear it up and throw it up after a couple of years if something doesn’t work right. You fix it.

“This is the first time I can remember a tribe has passed an independent press act and revoked it. This is unprecedented.”

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