Lauren's Post

 During the late 1970's and early 1980's there was a controversy about the Tellico Dam in eastern Tennessee. Interestingly one would think that the issue was over a fish, called the snail darter (a very unfortunate name if you ask me), becoming extinct and filling a reservoir. However, once a little bit of research was completed one would find out that the public was blind to what the real Tellico Dam controversy involved. In Awiakta's piece The Press: Watchdog With A Blind Eye it appears that even the press, who reported to the public, was blind to what was occurring. In fact, 'A nationally syndicated political cartoonist says, "I feel betrayed, I myself drew a cartoon satirizing the dam vs. the snail darter."'. 
        
In fact, the real issue involved the Cherokee indians that lived on the nearby land and their ancestors' that used to inhabit the areas of Tellico. The issue revolved more around the Cherokee's ancestors and their culture that resided on that land; and with the filling up of the reservoir that culture would be lost, including the buildings and artifacts that remained. It is sad that the government covered up the true controversy of the Tellico Dam, in a sense that still to this day some people don’t know about the Cherokee and still believe that the snail darter was fearing for its life. However, the government chose a genius plan to cover up the Cherokee controversy with the snail darter, who “was found to exist elsewhere in America”. If the press and public were not blind to the dispute, there would have been a bigger debate about the Tellico Dam and the filling of the reservoir. In fact, American’s might have even fought for the Cherokee on the issue, causing their culture to still exist in that land to this day.

Although the government may have covered up the issue, it was the presses duty to find out all the facts and present them to the public. I feel that even though some of the information was more hidden, it could have been sought out and reported. I don’t necessarily blame the press 100% because they too were blind, but the public was even more blind. It is as if since the snail darter didn’t actually appear to be such a big deal to the public, “It’s about time. When it’s a choice between ‘progress’ and a three-inch fish, the fish has to go,” the press thought that their job was completed when the public didn’t fight. However, it is the presses duty to fight for the public, to provide other opinions about the matter. Thus, I believe that the press should have at least had one eye open while investigating and reporting about the Tellico Dam controversy.

Lauren Owen