In recent years, The Way has been inactive, and apparently the idea for the newspaper article was prompted by talk that The Way might be reactivated and merged with The City. However, as the article reports, merger talks had been suspended. The story tells about a school operated by The City, as well as a federal grant received to help troubled youngsters find alternatives to gangs. Recent successes are mentioned, particularly the role played by The City in providing crowd control at a south Minneapolis nightclub the previous summer. A police commander is quoted as being “impressed” by some aspects of The City’s programs.

In the article, Spike Moss, an employee of The City, is identified as a long-time black activist and former director of The Way. In responding to criticism of The City, Moss is quoted as saying: “This is a center of healing and growth . . . . The way they paint the picture, they make it sound like we’re all Indians and savages.” Moss claims that what he actually said to the reporter (as confirmed by two other witnesses) was: “I, for one, am sick and tired of the racist reporting on blacks and Indians in this town, as you print us up to be nothing but a bunch of savages.” The reporter claims he correctly quoted Moss and produced his notes in confirmation.

Decision of the News Council: The News Council finds that the article, overall, is not an unfair or inaccurate portrayal of The City, nor is the article racially insensitive. The organization is somewhat unorthodox and controversial, and the article portrays this. Favorable comments are also made, and the general thrust of the article is that the organization is uniquely qualified to handle unique social problems.

The City complains that the article omits mention that its programs provide many services to the Indian community. While this fact would have made the article more informative and complete, its omission does not detract from the article’s overall fairness.

More troublesome, however, is Spike Moss’s quoted remark. The reporter says he accurately reported what Moss said, while Moss and Nelson claim just as emphatically that Moss was misquoted. The published quote clearly conveys a derogatory racial meaning. It perpetuates a stereotype that Indians are savages. It does seem to us out of character for Spike Moss to make the remark attributed to him. He is a well-known civil rights activist. He is considered an advocate for Indian civil rights. At The City, he works closely with American Indian youngsters and their families, as well as their staff who are Indian. One would expect Moss to be sensitive to racial concerns and therefore to not make a remark offensive to the Native American community. After the quote appeared in print, it caused considerable consternation and embarrassment.

It is unclear if the newspaper realized that the remark it was attributing to Moss carried a negative racial connotation and, further, whether the newspaper realized that reporting such a remark by a well-known civil rights activist would be a surprising reversal of form. The fact that the remark was buried within the article strongly suggests that its astonishing impact was not noticed.

Ordinarily, a reporter who has taken notes during an interview should not be expected to verify quotes again with the interviewee. The Council agrees with the newspaper’s contention that controversial quotes are recorded by reporters and printed in the paper every day and that it would be impractical to compel a reporter to verify every one. In this case, we certainly accept that the reporter acted in good faith and accurately reported from his notes. Nevertheless, the quoted remark was so unusual under the circumstances that we think this should have raised a red flag. The newspaper then could have taken appropriate steps to demonstrate its awareness of racial sensitivities. The reporter could have verified the quote’s accuracy and intended meaning with the source. Alternately, the quote could have been paraphrased or even eliminated.

However, The City might have helped its own case by taking advantage of an offer made by the reader’s representative to possibly present their viewpoint in his weekly column. Pursuing this avenue of redress might have been fruitful, particularly in explaining in greater depth The City’s programs and goals.

The grievance as to the overall article is denied. The grievance as to the Moss quote is sustained.

Concurring: Ashmore, Beaulieu, Dornfeld, Falkman, Hanley, King, Persons, Simonett, Sundin, Swain, Tanick

Dissenting on first part of grievance only: Givens, Larson

Abstaining: Parrish - As a general observation, the Council notes that this case might illustrate a certain lack of racial awareness in newsrooms throughout the newspaper industry. Daily newspapers across the country have not yet succeeded in making their newsroom staffs representative of their communities. This conclusion was validated in survey results recently released by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. The survey of 1,642 daily newspapers across the country showed that minorities make up less than 8% of the newsroom workforce. (The report showed the Star Tribune having 6.7% minority staff members and the St. Paul Pioneer Press 6.2 %). Perhaps if more minority reporters and editors were employed, racially demeaning remarks or stereotypes would have more chance of being spotted and challenged.