The snail darter controversy was
publically a debate about starving animals from their natural environments. But
the controversy hid the fact that there where far bigger issues involved in
building the dam then just the snails. In Marilou Awiaka’s Selu: Seeking the
Corn-Mother’s Wisdom she tells the story of the Cherokee people who lived
on the land (that would one day be the dam) and who fought within the law for
the maintaining of their home but were unsuccessful. She talks about the press and their responsibilities
to keep their eyes open to real conflicts, however, she never mentions the
public.
One thing that really hit me about
the press that is presented in the article is when the cartoonist who satirized
the dam vs. snail darter conflict, said that they, “depend on [their] sources
–the wire services and other articles from reporters covering Tellico.” They
also go on to ask,” how can the press be the ‘watchdog of the people’ if we are
blind in one eye?” This political cartoonist first states that he gets his
sources from other people in the press and then includes himself in their
number. So why didn’t they go find out for themselves? Why didn’t the Cherokee
publicize their struggles to gain support?
People put
a lot of blame on the press not allowing information to get out when people are
able to have a voice as well. The
original information from the case was so stupid that the cartoonist satirized
it, but perhaps he may have known in the back of his mind that there must have
been something else going on. As a member of the press he could have gone out
and researched for himself.
On the
other hand, the Cherokee didn’t publicize their suffering either. The article
mentions how they fought hard within the law but as people who have lived in
the states their whole lives, they should have known the best way to success,
is to promote issues into the minds of fellow Americans. So yes the press may be blind, but that doesn’t
help if you are mute.
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