The grievance arises out of the news coverage afforded by the three newspapers of the 1984 election campaign for state representative of District 35B, between K. J. McDonald (I-R), the incumbent, and Jim Hoese (DFL), the challenger. McDonald won the strenuous campaign. The Hoese DFL House Campaign Committee raises the following issues …
Complainant John Meiners claims the Delano Eagle should apologize for choosing to run an advertisement in which false information was written about him. He claims the news source should have known the facts or at least contacted him about the ad.
Grievant, an unsuccessful candidate for a state representative seat, claims that the newspaper wrongly accused him of “dirty tricks” in an editorial published after the election.
Grievant claims the newspaper improperly refused to accept two of her campaign advertisements.
Representative Don Frerichs (District 32A) suggested that the News Council consider the handling of letters to the editor during election campaigns. Although Frerichs’ suggestion was not in the form of a grievance, the Council agreed that the subject deserved discussion. Present at the Council hearing were Representative Frerichs, Representative Jerry Schoenfield (District 30B), and Randy Carlsen, editor of the Dodge County Independent.
The Minnesota Citizens Party complains about the lack of coverage by the television and print media of the election returns of its candidates in the November 1984 general election. The complaint is directed against the media generally, and not against any particular television station or newspaper. Consequently, the News Council has elected to hear this matter as a general discussion item and not as a grievance requiring adjudication.