Determination 148: Joselyn Murphy & Tom Bruels v. Ely Echo
A complaint against the Ely Echo by two Ely school officials over a Halloween party photo was denied by the Minnesota News Council.
Ely School Superintendent Thomas Bruels and Ely High School Principal Joselyn Murphy complained after the Echo published a photo of local children at a Halloween party that included a caption in which the children described themselves as a “dead superintendent,” “a superintendent and principal killer and victim,” and a “dead principal.”
Bruels and Murphy said the Echo should not have published the photo and caption, which referred to them directly, in light of recent national incidents of school violence. The Echo did not attend the hearing, but Editor Anne Swenson wrote in a Nov. 11, 2006 editorial that “the significance of publishing this photo and caption was to bring awareness to the community of the potential for violence which exists in the world and this community.”
News Council members voted 9 to 1, with one abstention, to deny the complaint.
Several members said while not unfair to Murphy and Bruels, the photo and caption were published in poor taste. “The paper acted in poor judgment using the quotes,” said public member Cathy Kennedy.
Media member Larry Werner was the lone dissenter. “There is no question in my mind that it is ‘unfair’ to the only superintendent and [high school] principal in Ely to run a picture depicting children dressed as a dead superintendent and principal.”
Tags: Ely Echo