NewsNight Minnesota; 5190; NewsNight Minnesota Episode from 07/28/1998; SD-Base

NEWSNIGHT Minnesota is a production of KTLA with the stations of Minnesota Public Television. I've done so and I have the heart of this NEWSNIGHT tonight to sit down with Clyde Bellecourt to talk about what's up with the American Indian Movement on its 30th birthday and I'll talk with our media paddle KSTP TV came out with a report about the good ol boy that made the solemn cry followed and she used to work there. All right also Kerry met the drug czar today for small music at a very special off there in studio live. Welcome to NEWSNIGHT Minnesota a statewide news and information program for thoughtful Minnesotans bringing context and depth to the region's most important stories. NEWSNIGHT Minnesota is made possible in part with support from the Landon Foundation working to strengthen rural communities throughout Minnesota. The McKnight Foundation working to strengthen families and communities across Minnesota and by Targo supporting Minnesota's tradition of community service.

Today the NFL owners voted unanimously to approve Red McCombs purchase of the Minnesota Vikings. The deal isn't expected to be completely finished until the middle of next month. But today's vote clears the way for the team's ownership situation to finally be settled. The deal is worth close to two hundred and fifteen million dollars. When you add the team stock price and becomes assumption of its debt and I can't open the regular season on September 6 at home against division rival the Tampa Bay Buccaneers today DFL chair Dixon EAS asked the campaign finance and disclosure board to investigate alleged illegal campaign contributions to House Minority Leader Steve's welcome contributions and questions stem from a 1996 breakfast at the Minneapolis club where people were asked to send $5000 checks to Wheelock Whitney's office. Now Sunni's says that the problem is that state law prohibits corporations from allowing political committees or candidates from using the corporation's office space telephones or employees services. Steve Williams says that the allegations have

no merit or validity. The DFL chair says however that the Crow Wing County attorney is investigating the contributions. The White House drug czar was in town today. Barry McCaffrey made his first visit to the internationally recognized Hazleton drug treatment facility in Center City. He also stopped in Minneapolis with Hazelton staff and anti-drug leaders to talk about the White House office's Drug Control Policy. Gaffney said one of the most eye opening aspects of this Hazleton visit was meeting with teenagers who are celebrating their recovery. So I came here really admire what they're up to they're a national and an international model of why investment resources and how it can make life or death differences. And it's affected a hundred thousand people and we are a model we are good at what we do. We have resources and we have a commitment to you know making sure that people do in fact recover from this terrible disease by disease I'll tell you that I have and I came out to Hazel and from New York in 1989 because I was addicted to alcohol and drugs and

I got well this problem is too big for Hazleton to resolve by itself we can never treat enough people. We can never provide enough books to enough people or do enough for young people. So we really need to create alliances and partnerships and that's what we're working hard to do. Spicer says in regard to recent drug and gang related murders in Minneapolis the answers include respecting law enforcement and stressing drug prevention and education. And finally an international story from Rochester. Jordan's King Hussein sent a message back to the people of his country today telling them that he has been diagnosed with lymphoma as bad to stay he has finished the first of six cycles of chemotherapy at the Mayo Clinic. He reported to his people that he is in good general condition and he's in high spirits and he says that his treatments should allow him to make a complete recovery. OK those are the headlines our first big story tonight is about the American Indian Movement. Thirty years ago today aim was founded in Minneapolis. Now over the years historians and

folks in the Native American community have argued over AIM argued over its goals its methods its effectiveness and in recent years there's been talk that Aime exist mostly in name only. We're not going to even try to settle any of those arguments. But we thought tonight we should take a brief look at the past 30 years I talk to one of the founders of aim yesterday Clyde Bellecourt was eager to talk about Ames official 30th anniversary celebration being held next week in Pipestone. When we meet in the Pipestone you're beginning the second of August. It will be one of the largest international gatherings in history of Mori and people from tribes to come together and if you know the ribbon down the back if you think Clyde Bellecourt prediction for next week is well a bit of hyperbole you might be right. But history would suggest you shouldn't underestimate the man's. I think we set the wheels in motion you know. 1068 Bellecourt helped found aim the American Indian Movement. First it was a local organization in Minneapolis but then chapters sprung up

around the country. Confrontations at Wounded Knee and elsewhere made headlines around the world and created awareness for the plight of Native Americans. Thirty years later the TV cameras and the guns are gone. Outside of Bellecourt office teenagers are painting a mural about various Indian tribes in South and North America. It's a nice enough project but not the type that makes headlines but Bellecourt is quick to run down a list of accomplishments. Haim was responsible for the creation of the Minneapolis Indian Health Board in the first inner city health clinic in the nation for Native American rights. And over the years Bellecourt says the legal rights center has helped 30000 Native Americans. Just a few years ago Native Americans took over ownership of the little earth housing project in Minneapolis a project that was sadly neglected for years by the federal government. But Amos also suffered from sharp criticism inside and outside the Native American community.

Bellecourt has been criticized about the way he has run projects such as the heart of the earth survival school and how he's handled their finances. A few years back a number of ame chapters around the country broke away from what they called Bellecourt corrupt leadership. Even longtime supporters believe aim has been a victim of its own success. Charlotte Black Elk is a nationally known Lakota activist work while political and economic power has now shifted to tribal leaders. She believes aim must be given its due. Well if you. Look at what the people were saying they were saying we need to respect our formal governments and so you look at Tribal governments throughout the nation. A lot of those people are the same people that are in their name advocates the agenda that they set forward is in still moving ahead with 30 years ago and called for the federal government to honor treaty rights. And over the years a series of court rulings have affirmed hunting and fishing rights and other obligations spelled out in the treaties and 1068 there weren't casino revenues helping out some tribes with increased economic legal and political power for many

tribes. You might ask who needs a more Bellecourt argues Indian people. Still our movement is represented all in and people in America. You know a lot of times my criticized as you know I cried bucket as big as white American woman doesn't do this now but we do we do we should be we have to when we talk about a treaty issue and we talk about racism in sports media we're talking about something that affects everyone in America and we take on those those issues and that's why we're still here today on ASH. Will seen Hammond eloquence brother Vernon have helped persuade hundreds of colleges and high schools to change the names of their teams from India Braves to something else. The McCourt says there's still plenty else to be done. He believes a movie around to celebrate its 40th anniversary. I hope I'm still around 10 years from now 32 years or if I'm not around I think the philosophy of self-determination and the pride that we have we have built up will be within our young people we have a lot of faith and

you have to have a we have a tremendous amount of young leadership coming forward and I think that 10 years from now they'll make quite a doctor or dentist back look like boy scouts. It's interesting that Bellecourt talk about the next generation of leaders I one of the criticisms against AIM is that the organisation is dominated mostly by the same bunch of guys and made headlines in the early 70s. And it is now time for our media panel normally we tried to cover something that is current and juicy and this time we didn't have to dig very hard last week KSTP TV ran an investigative report about the Department of Natural Resources. They were spending apparently too much money tax dollars for quote unquote and lavishly rather the reporter Jay Coles here is just a bit of that. Lumber barons historic hotel Stillwater 1996 a smaller managers meeting of 40 to 50 people in three days. Taxpayers cost $13000.

I think the high costs are not associated necessarily with the WHO and lodging that's not the issue that we had quite a number of consultants. But what about the St. Croix River groups DNA records show an eight hundred dollar riverboat dinner. It was that the food lodging. It was eight hundred dollars for a nonviable dinner trip. Yeah that's expensive. That's an expensive dinner. I don't know. Yeah. Now that report in it was a suggestion by a state lawmaker that such spending is criminal but did the Channel 5 go way out on a limb. According to the governor's office Channel 5 was merely stretching this one to the max to help its third place ratings. Is investigative reporting out of kindness for all. Well here to hopefully help us with the answer is Gary Hill the director of investigations for KSTP TV. Also with us Kate Smith news room manager Minnesota Public Radio and I will say again here you still are with Channel 5 and Kate my used to be there so it's like old home week for a lot of what I want to

think of coming out now for The Good Stuff. And I saw that piece and it's the thing that troubles me is that it seemed like there was there was there were some things lacking. It was not in context. Was the amount of money spent by the DNR. Disproportionate to other departments. Well I want to jump back first because in your report you left it with the statement that the legislator said it was criminal and that was clearly in the piece you said this is my end isn't all in my opinion for I came out and said nothing that we showed here was illegal. So I didn't want your report to leave a misimpression with the viewers which we didn't leave right in terms of whether any of this was in fact what I backed up from there that was the last thing in that piece which left the audience thinking that he was allowed to say in my opinion that's prevalent also in the piece. And but that leaves it hanging I sure hope it for a legislator to look at the spending and talk about it in fact there have been calls for hearings into these expenditures which may or may not be appropriate I mean that's not for us to decide but

we didn't reach a conclusion in saying that this was corrupt or illegal or anything of the sort. Merely whether or not was it justified. Right. And that's the ginger thing of investigative reporting that you know I know I know you know and Kate you know. One can play with words and say I didn't say anything he said it. But there is that heart thumping thing in an investigative report that I call the hype factor where you have you can't see it you can't smell it you can't taste it but it's there. And when I was watching that it was almost on the line of rats in the restaurant or daycare workers beating on little kids. And there was that oh here's what to do and at the end I was waiting for strippers to come out and people were drinking but it was it was subjective because we still were left with out the knowledge of how much like example you had a psychologist who was paid a thousand dollars worth of an hour. Was that is that out of line is that I've heard of. I mean what do people normally charge $2 and this woman was charging a thousand of that was just left hanging in the PC charge a thousand dollars.

Well and I don't think we were trying to suggest that that was out of line but I do think that I was going to say that was indicative of the kind of spending that was going on. This was one of the consultants in this case that where we went in openly with our cameras and said you know she let us tape what you're doing here and we put a piece of that on the report. I think perhaps your expectations were that it would be a hidden camera and that it would be a complete waste. Is that I that was not what this report was about. It was looking at government spending and showing an example of some of the spending and saying posing the question is this money well one of the things I think is really interesting here is how we define investigative reporting and I think that's really one of the things that goes to part of what you like or I discuss. On the list you know I think we're all good reporters because what's interesting is I think there's a fallacy about investigative reporting and the fact is all we porters are supposed to be investigators. For example if someone goes to Rochester and you talk about the police shooting of the doctor I would hope any reporter would not just hear the press conference and come home to a live shot. Everybody is an

investigator. However we have put this in such it's such a great marketing tool now. My point being investigative reporting is now can we trust the objectivity because we're looking for the May book July book. October February and all this that you miraculously have this great information coming out just in time for ratings. It's funny to hear you make that point in a story that aired in July. You know summer ratings and Summer Heights and all of that. Well part of what I think gets to the bottom of this is really how we change what we perceive investigation needs to be. I mean you know so many of us came out of the Watergate era we started our careers after that story broke and we thought that boy investigation means years of work and mountains of paper and I think in this day and age it's tough to maintain a sort of commitment to that sort of reporting because it's pricey It takes a long time. And because litigation is almost immediate now so how we walk that line is a very different thing than I think early on in all of our careers and the other thing is different mediums use it so

differently. I mean there is a point to which some of what happens I think. In some television reporting is sort of the factor you know it's stories that are in my head that are true that are well that are meant to titillate you on some level. So how do we define investigation. Is it does it have a time criteria does it have a we need to search out the truth and use X Y and Z criteria in broadcasting does that mean we need we need to use hidden cameras or things that were going to be said. Very good reporter but was there a way to cover this and not lose viewers don't want to do that. But to say honestly this is what we're looking at. Do State Department spin too much money and we have the natural resources and others and we think this amount of money is not proportionate to. And then look at those issues rather than the. And here we have video and we have people playing and I would just you're just teasing me all the way through it and that's is that ever going to in. Can a TV news station survive. Granted if you've got a right to try to get more viewers.

Well yes and you know it's why you're using examples of stuff we didn't do in this report and saying is that ever going to end. Well in this report we didn't do that. I mean we did spend a lot of weeks months obtaining documents. Working sources confirming the material that was in the report and to us we felt that that kind of reporting short of hidden camera reporting the work computer assisted reporting was worthy of being called investigative reporting because it was not driving to Rochester and doing a live shot on the same day. It did reflect a lot of work and I think that all the stuff we're talking about here Minnesota Public Radio starting investigative you know what kind of things you'll be looking for and how are you going to avoid these types of things were well Public Radio Lou so you know our threshold I think and what is that supposed to be. Well it means that we don't get there first but we stay longest time model. I mean part of part of it really is that you want to provide depth and context. And for me one of the big

differences in moving from commercial television to public radio has been the ability to say to myself as a reporter and now work with our newsroom. What's the story. And then what does it mean. And not just the who's affected because there's a car crash on 494 and all of a sudden everything's closed up but to say to ourselves if there are really important societal issues if there are things affecting kids if there are things affecting neighborhoods and communities if there is graft and corruption whether it's in public life or private life then look at those but always try and provide them in context I think that's part of what you're getting at is we may have lost some of that balance in how we look at investigative reporting because it's so expensive and because digging the nth degree to get that context to say so is forty thousand dollars more or less than it should be. Is is time consuming. Steve at a time when the question I want to ask you one more question here we asked

Gary Gilson of Minnesota news council if you come on the show and he respectfully declined it we do understand it because this this story is now before the news Council. But when I talk to Scott live and I do that believe it isn't. But go ahead. OK. Alice said she was going to but whether she has in fact representative. But my point being if it goes to TV doesn't acknowledge the news Council. That's if you get this new image and I got that news record too. We're now out there we're fair and also the great stuff why not just go to them and defend yourself and make your peace. And in fact Scott is actively reviewing our decision whether or not to participate counsel the decision at this point still is that we don't recognize them but we're reviewing them and we may do that. I would submit that even if we don't appear that the story will be sustained. All right. Thank you so much.

Well I won't be talking to the animals but they will be serenading them. Jeff Arundel and

Billy McLaughlin will be bringing their guitars to the Minnesota Zoo this weekend and not before they join us tonight. Thanks for coming down Jeff. Why the zoo What do you like about the venue. Well it's a beautiful little amphitheater. And they've been doing concerts out there for a few years now. Very intimate. And so Bill and I have never had the chance to play a concert together although he's played on some my records in the past. So we've been wanting to do this for a while this was the summer that it worked out so be Friday night and Bill's going to play and I'll play in the we're going to play together a bit. And it's a beautiful intimate setting out there at the zoo. It's Friday night what time. 7:30 this Friday yeah. And you say intimate how intimate how long what kind of crowd. I think capacity might be twelve hundred twelve or thirteen hundred which sounds like more than it feels like when you're there because. It's one of those little bowl you know when the artist is kind of right out there in the middle of the thick of things ready to take whatever might happen and you get the animal response out there it is always actually the tiger's

eye. I was out there and saw Delbert McClinton last year in the Tigers were pretty vocal from behind the stage where they are but they seem to be secure. So everything was OK. Billy has an A record out called finger dance on the round of records and he's been touring behind that for the last several months and I have an album that's been on for a couple years and I'm just in the process of making a new one and so he'll be playing some of the stuff from finger dance and probably some new things. Bill. Ladies and gentlemen or what do you play for us now. Just the song called ride the ride which talks about having fun it's kind of a summertime thing. OK and that's what I think you know what you got now right. Good bye good bye. Even more hitting send my

daughter she knew she was standin in through the sky. Come on do some good for us. So I was going to bed with the same things I bet I do. How

can I come. How

come. All right we got a lot to get back to them in a couple of minutes but that is not our only treat for tonight's show. We are very pleased to welcome Minnesota's latest highly acclaimed author Aubrey Ellis and a lot of you may be familiar with PBS is award winning series Reading Rainbow.

Last month Aubrey won the grand prize in Reading Rainbow's fourth annual young writers and illustrators contest in the second grade division She joins us now Aubrey big day for you that is at a party next door. You want you want a lot of neat stuff. Yeah. What you do in computer library reading rainbow and really neat neat this was a national contest so it must be really exciting to find out that you had one in the second grade division. Could you read the story for us right now. OK. OK go ahead. And the it's called Model your manners. Where are your manners. Well what do you do when a kangaroo steps on you you say Excuse me do you know that you are my toe. What do you do when a draft starts laughing your behalf he says laughing that someone can even make the top become rather small.

What do you do on Iran charges that you. He stepped to the side and say Please don't take that ride. A fight will not make you satisfied. OK let's go to one more page. What do you do when I look back a peg saying it he said. I'm chief. You won't be able to bug me. All right. OPER that's great you wrote this when you were secretary right. Yeah. How'd that happen. I just says that the extra time. One quick question dear dad. We all think our children are geniuses. But what's it like to have her nationally recognized. It's kind of surreal. It's a lot of fun and it's kind of amazing to watch this happen your kid. All right I bet Paul Aubrey thanks a lot. Congratulations have a good time with the computer. We're just about out of time but we have got to go back to that good music. So let's take it away with Jeff or Randall and Billy McLaughlin. Check these guys out of the Minnesota zoom. Thanks for

watching.