Determination 146: John Kysylyczyn v. Star Tribune
A complaint against the Star Tribune by the former mayor of Roseville, John Kysylyczyn, was denied today by the Minnesota News Council. The vote was 11-to-0 with one abstention. Kysylyczyn, mayor of Roseville from 2000 to 2003, said that the Star Tribune unfairly editorialized in a July 23, 2006 news story when it used the word “antics” to characterize his administration.
The news story focused on current hostility between elected officials in the City of Maplewood. The Star Tribune eliminated two other complaints by Kysylyczyn, acknowledging that it should have called him for comment in stories that criticized him. The newspaper also said it has told its staff to call Kysylyczyn whenever a future story casts him in a negative light.
Representing the Star Tribune, Kevin Duchschere, team leader for the paper’s St. Paul bureau, justified the use of the word “antics” to characterize Kysylyczyn’s time in office by noting that the newspaper used the word in the past to describe the behavior of former Governors Rudy Perpich and Jesse Ventura, former Minneapolis City Council Member Barbara Carlson and form U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone. The newspaper said the word applied to “colorful, controversial and unorthodox behavior by a political figure.”
Most council members found no fault in the Star Tribune’s use of the word “antics” given several examples the newspaper offered at the hearing. At a rally criticizing him, the newspaper said, Kysylyczyn paraded through the crowd with a sign that read: “The mayor is a bard” and “Death to the mayor.” He also tried, the newspaper said, to have himself appointed editor of the Roseville newsletter, so that more news of the city council would be published.News Council member Jane Berg, a public relations specialist, said she thought the Star Tribune should have published one such example, to support the use of “antics.” The story offered none.
The Star Tribune used Kysylyczyn’s name in the story, said Jeff Rush, editor of the newspaper’s north suburban section, to reflect a time when Roseville’s city government was in turmoil. Duchschere said that three years after Kysylyczyn left office, his name is still synonymous with controversial leadership, and Roseville is an easy reference point for reporters writing about contentious suburban politics.
Tags: Star Tribune