Determination
137
Minnesota
News Council
In the matter of the complaint of John Kysylyczyn,
former mayor of Roseville, against Law & Politics magazine
Background
Law & Politics, a monthly magazine aimed at two niche audiences,
published a story in its June/July 2003 issue surveying a variety
of bizarre political disputes in three Twin Cities suburbs. The story,
"The Day the Strippers Tried to Take Over City Hall," was
a feature intended to amuse readers.
Complaint
The former mayor of Roseville complained that the story was unfair
because it reported ethics charges against him without allowing him
or his attorneys to tell his side of the story. He said that the magazine
did seek out sources who opposed him, but never called him. He also
complained that the magazine’s corrections did not go far enough.
Response
The magazine’s editor, Steve Kaplan, said that Law & Politics
is not a standard journalistic enterprise, but rather a niche publication
whose audience understands its irreverence and humor. He said that
the story was designed as a roundup, nit as a primary reporting assignment,
and that it depended upon clippings of newspapers many in the magazine’s
audience would remember.
Q & A
Public member Jon Austin, a public relations counselor, asked Kaplan
if he would acknowledge that the story, in including comments from
sources opposed to the complainant, required a balancing comment from
the former mayor.
Editor Kaplan agreed; he said, "The mayor should have been contacted.
I assumed he had been, he wasn’t, and that’s a shame. If
we were inaccurate, that’s a very serious matter. We did make
two corrections. While we do not want to be unfair, I do not believe
we were inaccurate in describing the ways the mayor acted [when he
was in office}."
Kaplan said that since this complaint arose he had
created a new editorial position: fact checker.
Kysylyczyn, the former mayor, was asked about the ethics charges he
had faced for allegedly having lobbied the legislature for tax breaks
for developers who were suing Roseville. He denied he had done that
and reported that the city’s ethics commission had voted down
the charges. He filed a claim with the city for reimbursement of $8,000
in expenses for defending himself.
Kaplan said that the seeming political circus in Roseville had prompted
him to commission the article. "We mix gravity and levity,"
he said.
Media members Vicki Gowler, executive editor of the St. Paul Pioneer
Press, and Ben Taylor, a Star Tribune vice president, suggested that
Law & Politics be transparent in presenting stories, by announcing
the magazine’s standard and by labeling articles clearly for
what they are.
Kaplan said, "We separate types of stories by use of pictures,
graphics, the cover. We signal to our audience that we’re having
fun."
Gowler asked, "Is there enough shared understanding among the
readers? I thought [the story’s] underpinning was solid, [but]
I will read this publication differently in the future. What did you
owe the readers? It’s confusing, but not necessarily wrong if
readers know what you’re doing."
Kaplan said the magazine distributes 17,000 copies free to lawyers
and business people and sells 600 on newsstands.
He said he had offered to publish a letter from Kysylyczyn on the
magazine’s web site and to direct readers to it from the corrections
column in the print edition. Kysylyczyn said he declined the offer
because he sensed that the readers of the print and online versions
of the magazine were different people.
He said he was hurt that members of the public might see the article
on a coffee table in a lawyer’s office and read a one-sided story.
Anfinson said he thought such a story, appearing in an influential
publication and aimed at an influential audience, could ruin a young
man’s political career.
Deliberation
Media member Reed Anfinson, editor/publisher of the Swift County Monitor-News
in Benson, MN, said, "Even if you publish that kind of story
[a light feature], does it give you the right to paint someone in
a false light? I get riled when someone writes that small-town politics
is funny. I’m from Benson, where we have under 3,500 people,
and I can tell you, politics there aren’t funny."
Media member Pat Berg, a journalism teacher at the University of Wisconsin/River
Falls, had a different view: "I don’t want to come out against
outrageous publication," she said. "It’s the lifeblood
of our democracy. If you’re the mayor, you expect to get nicked
once in a while, if you swim with the sharks."
Vote
Council members voted 7-3 that the magazine should have included comments
from the complainant.
Members voted 6-4 that the magazine’s corrections were inadequate.
June 17, 2004
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