August 19th, 1999
Determination 124: Marcia Eland v. Eden Prairie News
Participants included the complainant, Marcia Eland, and Eden Prairie News editor Mark Weber.
Complaint Denied
June 20th, 1998
Determination 120: Shelton Gunartne v. Fargo Forum
This complaint was heard on written submissions only. The Fargo Forum declined to participate.
Bob Shaw and Nedra Wicks, former Council members, took part as public members in order to ensure a balance of public/media members. The proceedings took place at South Central Technical College in Faribault.
June 17th, 1998
Determination 123: Morris Kurtz v. St. Cloud Times
Participants included the complainant, Morris Kurtz, accompanied by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities’ vice chancellor for human resources, Bill Tschida; from the St. Cloud Times, Susan Ihne, executive editor, and Dave DeLand, sports editor.
March 21st, 1996
Determination 109: Catholic Defense League v. St. Paul Pioneer Press
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.
December 14th, 1995
Determination 108: Parents of Special Ed Children v. Star Tribune
Complainants were two parents of special education children – Ruth Gregory, an advocate of special education families and John Guthmann, an attorney – and Robert J. Brick, executive director of ARC Minnesota. Representing the Star Tribune were Tim McGuire, editor, and staff reporters Rob Hotakainen and Mary Jane Smetanka, two of the series’ primary authors. Also attending to answer financial questions was Robert Fischer, a special education statistician in the Minnesota Department of Education.
September 21st, 1995
Determination 107: Jackie Schweitz, MCCL v. KTCA Newsnight Minnesota
Schwietz complained that the station acted unethically by violating a promise to her about the nature of a piece they produced about her for which she granted an interview.
June 22nd, 1995
Determination 105: University of Minnesota Women’s Studies Department v. Star Tribune
The Department objected to two articles in the Star Tribune on July 21, 1994. The Department made three claims of unfairness: first, that the articles distorted the reality and hurt the image of the Department by focusing on one course, which the Department said was unrepresentative of its offerings. Second, that the paper committed an ethical violation by using an undercover reporter in a classroom and by mischaracterizing the story it was working on when it approached the acting department chair, Jacqueline Zita, for comment; and finally that the main article relied uncritically upon the writings of Christina Sommers, whose work has been funded by organizations the Department characterized as “right wing.”
April 20th, 1995
Determination 104: County Commissioner Paul Thiede v. Brainerd Daily Dispatch
Crow Wing County Commissioner Paul Thiede, a former newspaper editor himself, complains that the editor of the Brainerd Daily Dispatch acted unethically when he sent a private letter on newspaper stationery to a select group of people (50 members of a Blandin Foundation leadership program) to solicit letters to the editor that were favorable to the editor’s position in the midst of a bitter debate over the county board’s decision to abolish the county welfare board.
August 18th, 1994
Determination 102: County Commissioner “Mac” McCauley v. Winona Daily News
McCauley, a county commissioner in Winona, complains that the newspaper was unfair by not asking for his comment when it printed a story in which another commissioner quoted a constituent who asked if McCauley was “on the take” or was just stupid, and a second story in which the other commissioner said he believed McCauley had cut a deal with a private company seeking a waste-disposal contract.
October 25th, 1991
Determination 90: William McGaughey, Men’s Rights Association v. Star Tribune
William McGaughey, a member of the Men’s Rights Association, based in Forest Lake, complained that an April 21, 1991, Star Tribune article in which he was quoted was biased and that the reporter deceived him about its nature to induce him to grant her an interview. In attendance at the hearing were complainant William McGaughey, and Star Tribune staff: managing editor Tim McGuire, reader representative Lou Gelfand, and reporter Donna Halvorsen.