Robert Herickhoff complained that The Free Press’s coverage of the issue misled the public and unfairly impugned the reputation of school board members. He charged thatThe Free Press did not check the veracity of the allegation of voting illegality before publishing the accusation and that, given the uncertainty of the legal status of the vote, the paper should not have published a front-page story. He said that, contrary to the editorial’s assertion, the study session was well advertised, well attended and did not involve “secrecy and behind-the-scenes arm twisting.” Finally, he complained that the follow-up article again suggested that the board may have acted illegally.

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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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Dr. Morris Kurtz appeared, as did Don Casey, executive editor of the St. Cloud Times. The complaint involves a claim of unfair comment in a newspaper editorial.

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Complainant, Terrance J. Lappin, appeared on his own behalf. Editor Steve Eide of Snoose News, submitted an 11-page written response to Lappin’s complaint. The issue raised in this proceeding is the fairness of an “editorial cartoon.”

Presentations were made by grievant Richard W. Stanek and Sumner Jones, assistant editor of the Spokesman.

In attendance at the hearing were Lori Peterson and Glenn Tornell, faculty advisor to the Advocate. The student who was the editor of the Advocate at the times involved was not able to attend the hearing but submitted a written statement. The grievant claims the Advocate published false, inflammatory and unfair statements about her.

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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.

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West St. Paul Alderman Larry Josephs complained that an editorial was one-sided, incomplete, misleading and biased against him.

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The Minnesota Tenants Union (MTU) complained that an editorial did not adequately support charges of misuse of public funds with factual evidence and balanced comment. The MTU claimed the paper did not respond satisfactorily to complaints of inaccuracies in the editorial.

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