The Daily takes the museum to task

The Daily News vents more than a bit on the front page of Monday’s paper, over an unusual PR move by the Museum of Northern BC. With the Dundas collection arriving on the North coast for a six week exhibition, the Museum left the Daily News and a number of other local media outlets off the officially invited list to Thursday’s exhibit opening, nor did they get the invite to an information session scheduled for Friday.

With a couple of out of town media outlets apparently granted access, the local media have taken to comparing their notes on the events and putting their take to the developments, including an interview by one Daily news reporter with the other reporter originally tasked to the event.

The issue of media availability is one that should be addressed by the museum and does seem a tad strange in this particular case. Indeed it would certainly be interesting to learn what led to the decision made by the Museum on this issue. However, it would be nice to see the Daily News express similar outrage to other events around the city which seem to disappear into the realm of closed sessions and detour onto that road known as internal matters.

There are surely many other local issues that the paper could also speak out over besides missing out on a gala opening, resulting in a fair amount of rather self serving media spin. The Museum’s original decision seems to be rather wrong, but the over the top outrage at the Daily seems a bit over dramatic as well.

The paper has the right and the responsibility to explain why they may or may not have covered a story; as well as any roadblocks put in their way. But with the tone of their coverage they almost made themselves the story, which isn’t particularly the best way to present a balanced viewpoint.

The thrust of the outrage seems to be over access to the participants, or in this case lack of it. The paper and other media for that matter could probably have contacted any number of participants for interviews prior to (or after) the event, providing for comprehensive background detail, if being shut out of the main event was going to prove problematic.

The paper expressed disappointment and indeed shock and anger at their fate with a comprehensive listing of the slights on pages one and three, as well as an editorial on the issue on pages four and five.

BIG DAY AT MUSEUM PASSES LARGELY UNREPORTED LOCALLY
Viewers, readers, listeners miss out on local coverage.
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Monday, March 5, 2007
Pages one and three

Artifacts given up as part of the Metlakatla tribe’s conversion to Christianity returned to the North Coast on Thursday the same way they left – largely under the cover of darkness.

The Museum of Northern B. C. denied Northwest media official access to the opening of the historic returns of the Dundas collection and the stories of the Tsimshian elders who spoke of their significance on Thursday evening.
This, despite the fact that there were several empty seats at the event.

The museum then denied media outlets, who tell the news and stories about people from Prince George to Haida Gwaii, access to, or simply did not invite media to, another event during which the elders spoke to a group of museum curators Friday morning.

This despite the fact that the Daily News has learned a reporter from the Globe and Mail newspaper, headquartered in Toronto, was invited to attend the opening Thursday night – as were an out-of-town film crew.

“I was shocked and more than a little bit angry. I don’t much care if people don’t take a liking to me personally but my job is to represent the people of the Northwest and to help them share their stories with one another,” said James Vassallo, reporter for the Prince Rupert Daily News, who was blocked from the Friday morning briefing by curator Susan Marsden after earlier being told he could attend.

“I find it horrific when people think they have the right to control the public’s access to information.”

Many of the artifacts in the Dundas Collection, which were given up by the Metlakatla tribe to Anglican missionary William Duncan, have been viewed in the past as politically sensitive because of the traditional religious significance of some items and the way in which they were obtained. The collection was acquired by the Rev. Robert James Dundas while visiting Duncan’s mission in October 1863 in Old Metlakatla, near present day Prince Rupert.

The collection was auctioned amid the glare of attention from around the world by Sotheby’s in October 2006.

The opening of the first exhibit of the Dundas Collection in Tsimshian territory was significant because local people would be the first to see the items before they are exhibited nationally and internationally.

However, the absence of local TV, radio and newspapers in an official capacity meant many were denied the chance to hear and see what Tsimshian leaders had to say at this culturally significant moment.

“This whole thing was handled incredibly poorly given the history of these artifacts and their significance to First Nations in the area,” said Vassallo. ”It’s also particularly offensive given this exhibit is being funded publicly by local taxpayers through the Museum of Northern B. C.”

The city of Prince Rupert donates $165,000 annually to the museum and took out a $2.5 million loan several years ago on behalf of the museum so it could remain in the Chatham complex.

The Royal B. C. Museum, which is coordinating the cross-Canada tour, said it had nothing to do with organizing the opening. It was in the hands of the Museum of Northern B. C.

MEDIA BAN MEANT LOCAL PEOPLE MISSED OUT
It was disappointing not being able to bring our readers a first-hand account of the arrival of the Dundas Collection at the Museum of Northern British Columbia.
Earle Gale
Editorial
The Daily News
Monday, March 5, 2007
Pages four and five

The internationally-important collection of mainly Tsimshian artifacts was officially received back onto the North Coast and unveiled at a special ceremony on Thursday afternoon.

We had wanted to be there to witness the occasion and initially intended to have a front-page story about the event and a page of photographs in the Friday paper.

Understandably, several readers have since asked us what happened at the event on Thursday and wondered why they have not seen a story.

Unfortunately, we were unable to cover the event because the press was excluded. We were told that the event was being kept on an intimate scale and that the small scale and the inclusion of a bar service meant that only a few people could attend. The press was not to be among them.

We admire and cherish the Museum of Northern British Columbia enormously but remain convinced that excluding the press from such an important event was the wrong decision.

Clearly, there is a long list of people in line in front of the press when it comes to deciding who should be invited to attend such an event. But by excluding local newspapers, radio stations and television channels, local people were denied the chance to read, hear or see a locally produced first-hand account of what happened when the Dundas Collection completed its long journey home.

We believe all local media should have been invited to attend.

We have since been told that a reporter from the Globe and Mail and a film crew from APTN was allowed into the event on Thursday: the media ban apparently only impacted local journalists.

By excluding the local media, local people were denied a chance to hear a locally-produced story about some of the benefactors who purchased items at the recent auction and who graciously allowed the collection to remain intact and exhibited to Canadians.

Local people were denied a first-hand locally produced account of the comments and emotions shared by chiefs and elders as they gazed upon artifacts that had been fashioned by their ancestors.

And local people were denied a locally-produced chance to share in a historic moment.

Future generations were denied the chance to leaf through archived local papers to re-live this important moment.

Only the hundred or so people with invitations to be in the room go to experience what we have since learned was an emotional and proud moment. Only they got to hear the words of wisdom uttered by the elders.

We have since spoken at length with representatives from the museum board and explained why we think the media should have been allowed to witness the event.

We are confident that similar future events will be handled differently.

There is no doubt that the museum is an incredibly important local institution – one that is important on the national and world stage - and one that we would love to work with more effectively in the future.

But, regardless of how future events might be conducted, we cannot help but feel regret that local readers, viewers and listeners were not able to find out what happened at last week’s event – one of the most important museum events seen here in decades- from local media sources. It was a moment in history that will not be repeated.