Michael McKee of St. Paul complained that the paper arbitrarily denied him fair access to its letters-to-the-editor column. He also charged the paper with refusal to print divergent viewpoints on controversial subjects or letters not in sympathy with the editor’s viewpoint.

Background: Over a five-year period McKee submitted 38 letters to the newspaper, of which approximately one-third to one-half (by McKee’s estimate) were printed. According to the newspaper editor, about three letters from McKee were published in 1976. However, four anti-abortion letters of his, submitted from January through July, were not published.

Response of the news organization: The paper chose not to appear at the Council hearing, but the editor in a written statement disputed McKee’s charges, explaining that the letters were rejected because they were not timely and that other similar letters had already covered the subject. The editor noted that other letter writers also have a right to publication. He stated, “We don’t really have to publish any letters at all. We are not bound by any fairness doctrine, no law.”

Determination of the Council: There was no evidence to support the charge that the paper showed continuing bias against certain viewpoints in the letters chosen for publication. McKee was not denied fair access, considering the number of his letters published by the paper.

The complaint against the newspaper is not upheld.

Tags: St. Paul Pioneer Press

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 10th, 1976 at 4:46 pm and is filed under 1976, Complaint Denied, Hearings, Letters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.