Attending the hearing at the Lutheran Brotherhood Auditorium, representing Northwest Airlines were Jon Austin, Director, Corporate Communications; Ruthie McKee, Sr. Vice President, Customer Service and Line Maintenance; Dr. Clayton Foushee, Vice President, Flight Operations, and Christopher Clouser, Sr. Vice President, Administration. Representing WCCO-TV were Jacquee Petchel, Senior Producer; Don Shelby, Anchor and Reporter; John Culliton, former General Manager; and Ted Canova, News Director.

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Mork complained that an opinion piece was based on false rumors. Her complaint contended that Andy Hilger, the editorialist, had an obligation to check Ringsmuth’s assertion that the MCGFDA committee had pulled books from school libraries without the authority or knowledge of the school board and that she was a prime mover in censorship, and offering an opportunity to respond after an editorial has already aired is not sufficient for fairness and balance, but that the editorial needed to include her version of the facts.

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The Catholic Defense League contends that the St. Paul Pioneer Press news coverage distorted its position on the public schools’ “Out for Equity” program, and the opinion page editor arbitrarily rejected commentary pieces by two League board members seeking to explain the League’s position: one because he didn’t live in St. Paul and one because the editor disputed the writer’s portrayal of the facts. The League believes the denials were based on an unfair standard.

The League says distorted coverage and lack of access to the opinion page served both readers and voters poorly. It also believes that the coverage inflamed some members of the public, who later vandalized the organization’s office and phoned in death threats.

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