Minnesota Pro Chapter
Society of Professional Journalists

Minneapolis (Aug. 29, 2008) - Police confiscating reporting equipment, prohibiting journalists from covering news events, and hassling photographers are definite warning signs as we head into the Republican National Convention. The Society of Professional Journalists is discouraged to learn of such tactics recently in the name of public safety. We hope these are isolated missteps by local law enforcement officials before the big event arrives and police have more important matters to attend to.

Three out-of-town citizen journalists, here to document events happening outside the Xcel Energy Center, had their belongings–including cameras and notebooks–confiscated by Minneapolis police while in Northeast Minneapolis.  Police claim the three were trespassing, but no charges have yet been filed. The three who where detained maintain there was no such trespassing and their interaction with police was an attempt to intimidate them because the group they represent has documented police abuse in the past. More »

The Minnesota News Council denied two complaints against the Morrison County Record by state legislator Al Doty (DFL-Royalton).

Rep. Doty complained to the News Council after the paper published a March 2 story, “Local GOP objects to Doty’s support of gas tax hike.” The Record’s editor and general manager, Tom West, approached Doty for comment “on the gas tax,” but did not tell him it would be used in a news story about Doty’s support of a transportation bill. In an effort to balance a press release issued by Republican leaders in the district, West rewrote the press release to include comments from Doty and the county engineer, as well as additional background information. More »

Rep. Al Doty v. The Morrison County Record

12:15 p.m., August 21, 2008

Hamline United Methodist Church - St. Paul, Minn.

Minneapolis (Aug. 20, 2008) - The Minnesota News Council will convene Thursday, August 21 to consider two complaints against the Morrison Country Record by state legislator Al Doty (DFL-Royalton).

Rep. Doty complained to the News Council in April about the Morrison County Record, a weekly newspaper in Little Falls, Minn. Rep. Doty said the paper approached him for a general quote “on the gas tax,” but did not tell him it would be used in a news feature that critiqued his support of a transportation bill (“Local GOP objects to Doty’s support of gas tax hike,” 3/2/08). Record editor and publisher Tom West disagrees that Doty should have told what the story was about in advance. Doty “gave good answers to the questions I asked him,” West wrote, “and they were reported accurately in the printed article.” More »

You are cordially invited to join us Rebooting the News: Reconsidering an Agenda for American Civic Education Oct. 23-25, 2008 in Philadelphia . It’s a short, strategic convening for journalists, teachers, educational administrators, public-policy researchers and engaged citizens. More »

The Los Angeles Times sparked a debate last month when it reported that Barack Obama was subject to harsher media coverage than John McCain in the first weeks of the general election campaign, according to a study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs.

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Google may bill itself as an open conduit of information, but media companies have increasingly begun to see it as competition. With Google’s recent launch of Knol, an information source similar to Wikipedia or About.com, some feel the company has moved from simply organizing web content to actively creating it.

Are media companies right to be skeptical of Google’s promise to remain an impartial search engine when it owns sites like YouTube, Blogger, Google Books, and Google News?

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The Poynter Institute’s News University presents a series of “webinars” on covering the 2008 presidential race. The topic this year is especially relevant for Minnesota journalists with the Republican National Convention to be held in St. Paul this fall. Participants will view a live audio and slideshow presentation while posting questions and responding to poll questions posed by the host. Enrollment costs about $25 a seminar, or $50 for all three.

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