Web editor has reputation as the first word in news from Indian Country
By Ann Baldelli
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Articles
Published on 5/21/2001
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Mashantucket- Victor Rocha was working the crowd last week at
the National Congress of American Indians, pumping hands, doling out
business cards, and talking up his Web site to whoever would take 30
seconds to listen.
“Hi, I'm Victor Rocha, editor of Pechanga.net,” he said, reaching
into his suit coat pocket to thumb a business card from the inch-thick
pile he had stashed there.
At 39, the fast-talking, pony-tailed Rocha is one of the best-known
names in American gaming.
A member of the Temecula, Calif.-based Pechanga Band of Luiseno
Indians, Rocha launched his Web page in the fall of 1998, when Indian
gaming was fighting for its life in California. His mother wanted the
state's Indian gaming initiatives to pass, and Rocha went searching for
information for her.
Today, he posts a daily page that carries gaming, Indian gaming and
American Indian stories from more than 100 newspapers across the country.
The page – www.pechanga.net – gets more than 1 million hits, or
visits, each month.
International Gaming & Wagering Business has described the Web site
as “the mother lode of news about the gaming industry and Indian
affairs.”
“He's created one of the finest sources of information for people
interested in the gaming world,” Jeffries & Co. analyst Raymond
Cheesman told Indian Gaming.
“I read it every day, and so does my agent,” said Jeff Benedict,
author of “Without Reservation,” the book highly critical of the
Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. “From what I know, it's the most
comprehensive collection of news reports on Indian gaming. With one click,
I can read newspapers from all over the country.”
Benedict is currently working on another book, this one about Kennewick
Man, the 9,000-year-old skeletal remains found along the banks of the
Columbia River in Washington State in 1996. The bones have caused an
uproar between American Indians and researchers.
Like Benedict, American Indians, casino managers, bankers, analysts,
politicians, government officials, and newspaper reporters read the page
every day to keep abreast of Indian and gaming news.
“My readers are so diverse, from little old ladies to professionals
to investment bankers to concerned neighbors to the anti-gambling people,
they all read me,” said Rocha, who was paying his first visit to
Foxwoods Resort Casino, where the mid-year session of the Indian Congress
was being held.
“I'm finding something I can do can make a difference,” he said,
explaining that when he posts a legislative bulletin on his Web site,
folks swing into action.
“I'm able to do political activism,” he said. “We can get people
on the phone, and lawyers and lobbyists hopping.”
Oftentimes, Pechanga.net is the place where people following
developments in Indian Country get a heads-up on what is happening. When
Neal McCaleb was tapped as the possible next head of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, Rocha posted it on his Web site before reporters had even written
stories.
On any given day, the stories on his page run the gamut, from higher
energy costs in Las Vegas, to slot-machine winnings in Connecticut, to
sanctions against a Louisiana casino.
There's tribal news, including land-to-trust and recognition stories,
to mainstream gaming promotions and efforts to unionize casinos.
“The Internet is amazing,” said Rocha, who worked 18 months without
drawing a salary and recruited sponsors to host the page.
He calls himself the “News Dude” and works seven days a week. He
starts about 10 a.m. and keeps at it until about 4 the next morning, using
search engines to do a “broad view” sweep of gaming and American
Indian stories in publications across the country. Then Rocha assembles
the stories on his page, with links to the other newspapers.
He collects good and bad information, pro and anti-Indian and gaming
stories, and critics and advocates' opinions.
“I'm an entrepreneur with a conscience,” Rocha said.
Because he lives in West Los Angeles, he's got to be up in the middle
of the night, waiting for East Coast papers to post their stories.
“At 4 a.m., I'm waiting for you guys, then I'm putting it to bed,”
he said.
In just a few years, Rocha's name has become legendary in Indian
Country. He was a speaker at last week's Indian Congress at Foxwoods and
also last fall at the World Gaming Congress & Expo in Las Vegas.
He sees a big part of his job as bringing people together, whether
gaming interests, tribes, or newspaper reporters.
“It's a big responsibility, and I take it seriously,” he said.
“It's the Internet. It's new. It's like the Wild Wild West. But it's
very important, too.”
Through his page, Rocha has made connections with legislators,
lobbyists and the staff on Capitol Hill. Prior to visiting Foxwoods, he
was in New York City, meeting with gaming analysts to look at ways of
better promoting their views on his site.
“I'm here, with my ear to the ground, listening for the next
story,” Rocha said.
He was also promoting his page, which has extensive gaming and Indian
gaming archives, links to Indian nations, tribal enterprises, and other
sites anyone interested in gaming or American Indians might be looking
for.
For Rocha, the Web page has become a job, but it is also a sense of
pride, for him as an American Indian, and a member of the Pechanga nation.
The 1,200-member tribe's chairman, Mark Macarro, is his cousin.
Another cousin, Gary DuBois, heads up the Pechangas' cultural resources
division.
“He's put the Pechangas on the map,” said DuBois, who was at
Foxwoods with Rocha. “He's a firecracker, and he's great at what he
does.”
A lifelong political junkie, Rocha said his mother's concern for her
tribe and yearning for information set him on his career path.
“You gotta get the news out there,” he said. “You've got to
inform people. As soon as it's fresh, I want to be the second person to
have it, and then I want to pass it along.”