Determination 97: Candidate Dan Reiva v. NorthWest News
Reiva complained that the Northwest News, a free paper, was unfair in publishing a letter on the eve of a primary election that misled readers to believe he was an atheist, and that the newspaper’s coverage showed a pattern of bias against him. In alleging bias, Reiva pointed to several examples: an editor’s note attached to his campaign manager’s rebuttal letter, which Reiva characterized as “hostile;” the lack of publication of his and his supporters’ rebuttal letters to a letter attacking him by a former mayor; failure to edit out incorrect references to him in a letter by Ron Christensen, although it was brought to the editor’s attention that the information was incorrect and she edited out references to other politicians; and finally, editing of one of his letters to remove information critical of Dean Nyquist (who once worked as the paper’s legal representative.)