The Ely City Council held a closed meeting in April to discuss its ongoing negotiations with the EPA over violations for which city was being fined. The City Council closed the meeting citing the need for a discussion of potential litigation strategy, currently an exception under Minnesota’s open meeting law. The City Council said it was protecting the concerns of the citizens by keeping the discussion of strategy confidential. The Ely Echo, one of the two newspaper’s in town, published an account of the meeting in the following week’s paper. The paper declined to respond to the city’s inquiry about the source of the article. The paper also said it was protecting the taxpayers’ interests by keeping them informed about the actions of the City Council.

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Dr. L. David Mech identified 28 specific points of contention in an article printed by the Star Tribune. The News Council grouped these points under four general complaints. Mech complained that the story: Carried a prejudicial headline that implied he was guilty of ethical violations. Further, the framing strongly implied serious wrongdoing and set a false stage for all that followed. Second, the Star Tribune used inflammatory and prejudicial language to support unsubstantiated attacks on his character and behavior. Third, the article was based upon information from sources who were anonymous, biased or lacked the authority to judge his behavior, which made it difficult for readers to judge their reliability. Finally, the piece leveled charges against him without providing substantiation or context that would have provided balance.

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A 17-year-old incest victim attended the hearing to press her complaint. Accompanying her were her mother and her therapist, Sandy Garry of Winona. Representing the Wabasha County Herald were Michael Smith, editor, and Gary Stumpf, publisher.

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This grievance concerned two issues. First, that the Globe’s story violated reasonable journalistic standards by portraying anonymous comments from fewer than 250 persons as a statistically valid survey (the paper’s circulation is 14,000). Second, that the Globe unfairly denied letter writers an opportunity to criticize the newspaper.

Tags: Worthing Daily Globe
Posted in 1994, Anonymous Sources, Complaint Upheld, Hearings, Letters, Other, Racism/Sexism/Stereotypes | No Comments »