To date, the Minnesota News Council has received 34 complaints in 2008. Four complaints were filed by people who had been mentioned by name in the news; the rest of the complaints were of a more general nature (click on images to enlarge).
A sample of public concerns about the media:
“It was an accident.” A woman complained that a story on a fatal drunk-driving incident was unfair to feature comments from the family of the deceased that accused the driver of murder.
“What about the Native American community?” A man from a local reservation complained that the Minnesota media does a poor job of covering the American Indian community.
“I don’t watch the news for cheap-shot comedy.” A man complained that TV-news commentary on Vatican proclamations was offensive to Catholics. The station apologized, “Our newsroom comprises many faiths, and our families even more. We regret any misunderstanding.”
“Audaciously stolen!” A man pointed out that a newspaper columnist borrowed heavily from a student newspaper article without citing the source. The newspaper did not respond.
“She defamed my family’s good name.” A woman complained that a staff editorial falsely implicated her brother in domestic abuse through a lengthy, personal diatribe.
“Can you believe this lead?!” A man complained that the opening paragraph of a newspaper story stereotyped Muslims as terrorists. The article was changed online just a few hours later to remove the reference.
