File a Complaint
It’s easy to file your complaint about local or national news coverage.
Simply fill out the Minnesota News Council’s online complaint form. Our complaint process is fast and it’s free! Please read these instructions, then click on the link below to fill out the complaint form.
- If you have a complaint about something you’ve seen or read, tell us! You can phone, fax, mail, or submit your complaint online. The News Council will respond within two business days.
- Next, we will forward your complaint in its entirety to the news organization you have named. If your complaint does not contain sufficient information or fit our criteria, we will contact you.
- In this initial stage, the goal is procure a response to your complaint from the news organization. News Council staff does not judge the validity of your complaint one way or the other. The News Council makes determinations only in formal hearings, which may come later in the process.
- The News Council sets no specific journalistic standards or codes, and does not require you to refer to any in your complaint. However, it is very important that you establish a sound basis for why you believe you have a valid complaint, and you may refer to ethics codes of news organizations or others in doing so.
- You may also review the outcomes of past hearings of the News Council for examples of complaints heard, but you are not limited by the types of complaints that reached News Council hearings.
- Though it is helpful, you are not required to send a copy of the news story in question with your email complaint form. You are asked to state, however, when and where the news in question appeared. Complaints of a general nature are strengthened when supported by as many specific examples as may be found.
- If you are clearly named or alluded to in the news coverage about which you complain, your complaint is considered a “private” (meaning personal) complaint. You will be asked to submit a waiver agreeing to use the News Council to resolve your issues instead of court. We will then send your complaint to the news outlet and ask them to contact you directly and send the News Council a copy of any correspondence. If your complaint remains unresolved and meets the conditions for a hearing, you may proceed toward a News Council hearing to resolve it. If your complaint is about a news item that does not clearly name or allude to you, your complaint is considered “public.” We will forward your complaint to the news outlet and ask for a response, but your complaint will not be eligible for a public hearing.
- The entire News Council process is designed to make it possible for persons to present complaints quickly and on their own. No legal representation is required, and lawyers are not allowed to participate in the formal process.
- Most complaints will not require a hearing.
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CLICK HERE to FILE YOUR COMPLAINT NOW.
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If you have questions, please email or call the Minnesota News Council.
E: info@news-council.org
P: 612-341-9357
Signed waivers can be mailed or faxed to the Minnesota News Council.
12 South Sixth Street, Suite 927 | Minneapolis, MN 55402
F: 612-341-9357