News Council Hearing | Thursday, Aug. 21
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.”
Rep. Doty also complains that an editorial written by West was inaccurate to commend both Doty and a Republican colleague for work on a zoo funding bill (“Zoo funding worthy of praise,” 6/1/08). Doty says he was “on his own” this past year in seeking federal money for the Pine Grove Zoo in Little Falls, Minn. and feels it was unfair to include Senator Paul Koering (R-Fort Ripley) in the praise. West has said that before publishing the editorial, he called Sen. Koering, who acknowledged less involvement in the bill, but said he helped get it through the state Senate.
At the hearing, the Minnesota News Council will hear presentations by Rep. Doty and the Morrison County Record; the Council will then issue a determination. The event is free and open to the public and media coverage is invited. Documents relating to the case are available upon request.
About the Minnesota News Council
The Minnesota News Council was created in 1970 to promote fair, vigorous and trusted journalism. It presents complaints about accuracy and fairness to news organizations, holds public hearings to consider unresolved complaints and conducts public forums aimed at fostering trust in journalism. The News Council has 24 voting members, half of them journalists, half laypersons. The hearing process is voluntary; the Council’s determinations are advisory and carry no sanctions.
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