Determination
10
Minnesota
News Council
In the Matter of the Complaint of F. Robb against
the Minneapolis Star
Hennepin County Commissioner E. F. Robb Jr. complained
that an editorial unfairly misrepresented him when it reported what
he "thinks" by quoting a resolution supported by him at a previous
commissioners' meeting.
Background: A March 27, 1974, editorial entitled
"Political Press Releases" reported that Robb and another county commissioner
"think they should have free use of the office for communications
that they may have with the citizens of Hennepin County." The inside
quotation is part of the text of a resolution supported by Robb and
the other commissioners at a March 19 meeting of the Board of Commissioners.
The resolution was defeated 3-2.
Robb complained that the editorial was an unfair
and inaccurate misrepresentation in its assertion of what he "think(s)"
since he did not seek to make free "political" use of the office.
At the News Council hearing April 28, Robb emphasized that his resolution
was designed to eliminate censorship by the county board chairman
of releases from individual commissioners.
Response of the news organization: The newspaper
editor said the specific language of the resolution made the editorial's
conclusion proper and accurate. Therefore, the paper believed that
the editorial was fair and accurately quoted the facts and that no
retraction or apology was required. The editor said the paper had
offered to publish Robb's letter of protest in full, without changes
or an "editor's note."
Determination of the Council: Editorials are
expressions of opinion by a newspaper and may be expected to produce
disagreement from persons with other opinions. The Council does not
consider which opinions may be correct, but does examine whether statements
included as fact in an editorial are accurate, and whether or not
a newspaper is fair, by allowing those who disagree with its editorials
to have a chance to express their opinions by such means as letters
to the editor.
The editorial is beyond the Council's purview because
it expressed opinion by the newspaper editors that was critical not
only of Robb and the other county commissioner, but also of the county
board chairman.
However, the quotation from the resolution is a matter
of fact, and the Council believes that the quotation was accurate
and that a person reading the full resolution could draw the conclusions
reached by the editorial writer. The paper's willingness to print,
unedited, a rebuttal letter from Robb was an appropriate response
by the newspaper to his complaint.
The complaint against the newspaper is not upheld.
March 28, 1974
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