Determination
117
Minnesota
News Council
In the Matter of the Complaint of
Rachael Martin against
The Duluth News-Tribune
Attending the hearing was the complainant, Rachael
Martin, director of the Fairlawn Mansion and Museum in Superior, Wisconsin.
Representing the Duluth News-Tribune were Craig Gemoules, managing
editor; Steve Aggergaard, city editor; Chuck Frederick, reporter;
and Jim Heffernan, editorial page editor.
Background:
On October 31, 1996, the Fairlawn Mansion and Museum hosted a Murder
Mystery Dinner. Guests were asked to dress and act as if it were 1918
and they were attending a Mother Goose costume party at the home of
a wealthy widow, played by Martin. One woman attended the party in
blackface and, as part of the evening's program, recited the nursery
rhyme "Ten Little Nigger Boys."
On Thursday, November 7, News-Tribune reporter
Chuck Frederick called Martin to ask about the Murder Mystery Dinner.
Martin answered several of his questions, then asked why he was interested
one week after the event had taken place. Frederick said the paper
had received a complaint from one of the guests about the guest in
blackface and he was working on a potential story.
On Friday, November 8, the News-Tribune published
a story describing the Murder Mystery Dinner and reporting that a
guest had attended in blackface and had won first prize for her costume.
The story also reported that some guests and community members were
offended by what they perceived as a racist incident. After reading
the story, Martin faxed the paper a letter to the editor apologizing
to anyone in the community who was offended by the guest's blackface
costume.
On Saturday, November 9, the News-Tribune published
a follow-up news story about the event that contained quotes from
Martin's as-yet-unpublished letter to the editor. The same day, the
paper ran an editorial denouncing the event at Fairlawn.
On Sunday, November 10, the News-Tribune published
Martin's letter to the editor. The paper published numerous other
letters on the subject during the two months that followed the event,
and stories about the controversy were published in papers around
the country.
The Museum's board of directors issued a press release
on November 19 apologizing for the situation, but supporting Martin.
On November 22, the News-Tribune published a story reporting
that the NAACP was considering asking for Martin's resignation. Two
days later, the paper published an editorial criticizing the incident
at Fairlawn, but saying Martin should not lose her job.
Complaint:
Martin complained that the first news article was inaccurate and inflammatory,
and that the ensuing coverage was unfair to her personally. She cited
two errors as most damaging: the story's lead paragraph reported that
the guest in blackface won first prize when, in fact there was no
first prize, every participant won a prize; and the version
of "Ten Little Nigger Boys" quoted in the story was a different,
more violent version than the one read at the event. She said the
Duluth News-Tribune sensationalized and exploited the event
at Fairlawn, causing great suffering to the community, to her organization,
and to her professional reputation.
Martin also said the story lacked balance because
it did not make clear that the guest's actions were out of her control
and that she did not know that a guest in blackface would be attending.
She also complained that the story did not give her credit for upholding
the guest's First Amendment rights. Martin said that it was unfair
that she, rather than the guest in blackface, became the focus of
the coverage and that she was the subject of personal attacks in editorial
cartoons. She rejected the paper's contention that she became the
focus because she declined to release the guest list; she said it
was not her responsibility to do the paper's reporting.
Martin also complained that her letter to the editor
was used without her permission as part of the follow-up news story
of November 9 and not published in full until November 10. She said
she had no idea something like that could happen and was furious when
it did. Martin said she submitted the letter to be published as her
full statement to the community about the blackface costume, not to
be presented in parts to suit the newspaper's needs.
Response:
The Duluth News-Tribune responded that it did not intend to
hurt Martin personally or professionally, and denied that it sensationalized
the story. Rather, the paper said, it was trying to find out the truth
about a situation it deemed newsworthy, especially in the context
of what it called its concerted effort to cover "subtle racism"
in the Twin Ports area.
Managing Editor Gemoules said the paper placed the
story on the front page because there had been a great deal of public
discussion that summer about racism in the area, which has a population
that is 97% white. The News-Tribune said it tried to keep the
focus off Martin, but that was difficult because she kept the guests'
identities from the paper and she took responsibility for the incident
by offering a public apology.
The News-Tribune said it took extra time to
report this story because it was more important to be fair and accurate
than to beat the competition. The paper said it received the call
of complaint about the guest in blackface one week before it published
the first story about the incident. The News-Tribune said the
reporter used that time to develop the story and to put the incident
in the context of local concerns about subtle racism and the national
debate about dealing wiyth historical racism. The paper said it took
the highly unusual step of reading the story to Martin prior to publication
to ensure accuracy.
Regarding Martin's complaint about excerpting her
letter to the editor in the follow-up news story, the News-Tribune
said the reporter called Martin for her comments for the follow-up
news story. Martin declined to comment for publication, but said she
was composing a letter to the editor that she would fax to the paper
later that day. The editors' considered the information contained
within the letter so significant to the story that it would have been
unfair to Martin not to include it in the story. The News-Tribune
did not then run letters to the editor on Saturdays (the day the news
story ran) and felt that it would be wrong to do so with her letter
because readers would not know to look for it. Further, instead of
allowing for the usual lag time between submission and publication
of a letter, the paper said it spent extra time and money recomposing
the Sunday editorial pages to publish Martin's letter. Even more beneficial
for Martin, it said, the paper's Sunday circulation is significantly
larger than on other days of the week.
Discussion:
Council member Carol Pine asked Martin if she had reviewed the first
news story before publication as the paper had claimed she had. Martin
said she had not seen the story in full, but that when Frederick called
back after interviewing her on November 7 to confirm that a story
would appear on the next day's front page, he read to her only the
parts that quoted her. Council member Mollie Hoben asked the News-Tribune
when it had let Martin review the story in full. Frederick said that
he let Martin read the story when he interviewed her in her office
in the afternoon of November 7, he remembered, because it was the
only time they had a face-to-face meeting. Martin disputed Frederick's
answer, saying that when he came to her office, he said he still did
not know if the paper would publish a story.
Council member Don Smith asked Martin if she agreed
that the event was newsworthy, and if so, how she would have liked
to see it reported. Martin said she did not think the incident itself
was newsworthy, but that it presented opportunities for good journalism
-- opportunities the newspaper missed. For example, she said, the
paper could have explored the First Amendment rights of the guest
in blackface who paid to attend the event in a public building, or
what the private, non-profit organization hosting the event could
have done had it considered the guest's costume inappropriate, or
how to present parts of history that offend people.
Council member Terry Thompson asked Martin to explain
her reaction to the guest in blackface. Martin said that blackface
offends her deeply, as she is a strong proponent of civil rights.
She said that while she was horrified by the costume, she also had
a job to do. Martin said that in keeping with her character, she asked
the woman which nursery rhyme she was representing and the guest responded
by showing her the copy of the poem, which was not the same as the
one quoted in the paper.
Council member Dave Hage asked the News-Tribune
if the version of the nursery rhyme quoted in the story was shown
to Martin prior to publication. Frederick said several lines of the
nursery rhyme were contained in the story that he showed to Martin,
but conceded that it was later edited. He said he obtained that version
of the nursery rhyme from the library and read it to the guest who
complained and to the two anonymous sources, all of whom agreed that
that was the poem the guest in blackface recited at the event.
Martin responded that Frederick did not read to her
excerpts of the poem contained in the story, that he said only the
title of the poem and asked her if that was the poem the guest in
blackface had read. She responded yes because she did not know there
were different versions of the poem until she read the paper the next
day.
Council member Nedra Wicks asked the paper if it had
sought out a spokesperson other than Martin; for example, the president
of the Museum's board of directors. Frederick said that he contacted
as many board members as he could, but none was at the party or knew
about the incident, and they referred him back to Martin.
Council member Tom Keller asked the paper why, if
it took an entire week to ensure the accuracy of its report, it led
the story with the inaccurate fact that the blackface costume won
first prize. Frederick said the paper maintains that fact is accurate
because the guest who complained told him that the guest in blackface
had won a prize for best costume; a fact that he said two anonymous
sources and Martin all corroborated.
Council member Laurisa Sellers asked the paper to
explain its policy on using unnamed sources. Managing Editor Gemoules
said that generally the paper frowns on using unnamed sources but
may use them if they have first-hand knowledge of the information
they're providing and if he knows the sources' names. Gemoules also
pointed out that this story did not quote unnamed sources, but used
them only to corroborate information given by on-the-record sources.
Council member Maureen Reeder asked the News-Tribune
if it traditionally excerpts parts of letters to the editor in news
stories. Editorial page editor Jim Heffernan said that that issue
doesn't come up very often, but that it has happened before. On the
infrequent occasions when he receives a letter to the editor pertaining
to a hot news item, he said, he will take it to the news editors for
their consideration and possible use. Reeder then asked the news editors
if they traditionally ask for a writer's permission to use a letter
to the editor in a news story. City Editor Aggergaard said that during
his years with the News-Tribune this was the first time he
was faced with such a situation. Heffernan added that the paper considers
anything written to it usable on receipt, and that readers understand
that letters may be edited for style and syntax.
Martin responded that she never would have expected
her letter to the editor to be used in the news pages. Having said
that, Martin said that Heffernan had told her it usually takes several
days before a letter to the editor is printed, and she appreciated
that he made the effort to publish it in Sunday's paper.
Council member Syl Jones asked the paper if, in the
future, it would excerpt letters to the editor in news stories without
a writer's permission. Gemoules answered yes, and clarified that in
this case, when the reporter called Martin for her comments for the
follow-up news story, he reasonably interpreted Martin's statement
that she was submitting a letter to the editor to mean that her comments
could be taken from her letter.
Council member Ann Barkelew asked the paper if it
considered other ways of running Martin's letter to the editor on
the news page, such as running it in full in a separate box, as the
Star Tribune had done recently with a letter from Louise Erdrich
about a story on her late husband Michael Dorris. Gemoules answered
that virtually all of Martin's letter was quoted in the story, though
not together in one place. He said at the time they didn't feel obligated
to run the whole letter but, in retrospect, they could have.
Council member Jim Pumarlo told Martin he appreciated
that she did not expect to see parts of her letter to the editor in
the news story, but asked her what harm it had done. Martin responded
that it was unfair for the paper to excerpt her letter because in
so doing, it ceased to be a complete statement by her, but rather
was used by the paper to fit its needs.
Deliberation:
Wicks said that she would have liked the paper to expand accountability
for what happened at the Fairlawn event. Reeder agreed, saying the
paper placed the blame for what happened only on Martin when it could
have asked why other guests or employees didn't speak up at the event.
Barkelew countered that when Martin refused to release the guest list
or the name of the guest in blackface, she allowed for fewer sources
that could have taken the focus off of her.
Smith said he felt the incident was a news story that
needed to be printed. "I don't believe the article itself was
inflammatory, I think it's an issue that inflames the public,"
he said. "You can't write about it without reaction, and I'm
impressed with the balance in the coverage." Council member John
Kostouros agreed: "This was one of the better jobs I've seen
in a long time," he said. "These things stir up a hornets
nest."
Jones said that as a person of color (he is African-American),
he found it frightening that a situation like this had happened. "It's
also frightening that the paper can't even identify who did it, and
that parts of the community, including you, Ms. Martin, cover up who
did it." Jones acknowledged that the paper was trying to do a
good job of covering the issue, but was handicapped by not having
more people of color on staff to inform its discussion.
Sellers said that while she didn't think the news
coverage was unfair, she also didn't think it was a great story. She
said the paper missed a lot of opportunities, as Martin had pointed
out.
Kostouros said that although he could understand why
Martin wanted her letter published it its entirety, he could not see
the problem with how it was used, considering it quoted her letter
accurately. Smith agreed, saying its use actually made a stronger
argument for fairness in that her statement was published twice. Hage
said he has worked in both news and editorial departments and is "troubled
by leakage through the firewall." In this case, however, he was
satisfied that the paper was acting in good faith.
Pumarlo said he could understand how the reporter
could have interpreted Martin's letter to the editor as comments for
publication. However, had the situation occurred at his paper, the
Red Wing Republican Eagle, he said he would have published
the full letter alongside the news story on Saturday and would have
disclosed that it would appear in the letters-to-the-editor section
on Sunday.
Other members were troubled by the use of Martin's
letter to the editor in the follow-up news story. Reeder said that
readers think of the news and editorial departments as separate entities.
"I know if I'm not happy with the news, I can go to the editorial
page," she said. "It lessens my trust in the editorial page
if I think my opinions may be shuffled over to the news department."
Reeder added that she would not be so bothered if the news editors
had obtained Martin's permission.
Hoben sympathized with Martin and other news sources
who submit letters to the editor. She said after cooperating with
a paper's agenda and pace, she could understand why news sources would
want their letters to be published in full as their statements, separate
from the confines of news stories.
Sellers agreed with Hoben. "I think of the editorial
page as the place where I have my say," she said. "I appreciate
the paper's good faith, but I assume (that page) is for me."
Determination:
The Council voted to deny the complaint that
the Duluth News-Tribune's coverage of the Fairlawn event and
its aftermath was unfair to Rachael Martin, director of the Fairlawn
Mansion and Museum.
Concurring: Amaris, Barkelew, Hage, Hoben,
Jones, Kostouros, LeGrand, Pine, Pumarlo, Reeder, Sellers, Smith,
Thompson, Wicks
Dissenting: Keller
Abstaining: Anderson
The Council voted to uphold the complaint that
it was unethical for the Duluth News-Tribune to quote in a
news story from Martin's as-yet-unpublished letter to the editor.
Concurring: Amaris, Barkelew, Hoben, Jones,
Keller, Reeder, Sellers, Thompson
Dissenting: Hage, Kostouros, LeGrand, Pine, Pumarlo, Smith,
Wicks
Abstaining: Anderson
August 14, 1997
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Determination 118
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