Minority Opinion
Todd Peterson v. The Roseau Times-Region
October 20, 2005
Submitted By: Lorin Robinson, Jane Berg
On October 20, 2005, by a vote of 8-4 with 1 abstention, the Minnesota News Council denied the complaint of Todd Peterson, Roseau development coordinator, that an opinion columnist with the Roseau Times-Region based his opinion columns on inaccuracies that were misleading to the public and unfair to the city administration.
In the spirit of ongoing discussion about this and other issues, the above names members of the news council wish to provide a countervailing point of view.
The Complaint
The opinion pieces written by Roseau Times-Region columnist Jeff Olsen contain many inaccuracies and his criticisms are thus unfair to city officials.
It is our contention that the errors/inaccuracies in Mr. Olsen’s columns were substantial/significant and that they clearly had a negative impact on the public’s understanding of the issues and on the public’s perception of the competence of the city administration.
The following five examples illustrate errors or inaccuracies that Mr. Peterson brought to the council’s attention:
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That the city was charging for information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) "as high as $300 or more." December 8, 2004 (The fact is that the city will charge a fee only if the documents requested under the FOIA are not available and the city must spend an inordinate amount of time/money securing/copying the documents. Also, the FOIA does allow for an institution to charge for requests.)
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That the city was inept in its dealing with local flood recovery projects. July 30, 2005 (Information was corrected the next week in an article written by a reporter Tim Holmseth specifically to set the record straight.)
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That they city should conduct a referendum on the issue of the location of the new civic center. August 6, 2005 (The fact is that the city is not empowered by state law to conduct such a referendum.)
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That a building built by the Roseau EDA should be used as the new city offices instead of the civic center. September 24, 2005 (The fact is that the building was built with funds earmarked for commercial/retail only. It cannot be used as a public building.)
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That multiple buildings for city operations would have been cheaper than the single building that was constructed. September 24, 2005 (The fact is that city architects and engineers did the requisite study and found that multiple buildings would be 20-25% more expensive. Actually, it is fairly common knowledge that a single large building is cheaper than to build several smaller ones because there’s only one roof and one infrastructure resulting in economies of scale.)
The Role of Facts in Opinion Articles
Some of the discussion centered on whether and to what extent opinions expressed in opinion articles should be based on fact. It was pointed out that the role of opinion columns is to incite or excited debate/discussion, promote a point of view and/or to entertain. No disagreement.
But the discussion went no deeper. We heard that every newspaper (news medium) has the right to have a "curmudgeon." We heard the question, rhetorical as it turned since there was no discussion on the point, "How do you balance an opinion?"
We submit that these are not the real issues.
Yes, every news medium has the right to have an Andy Rooney, Studs Terkel or Jeff Olsen. And they have every right to practice their "curmudgeonry." But Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press, as was pointed out, comes with responsibilities. One of those responsibilities, we contend, is to ensure everything printed or broadcast in a news medium is based on accurate information-even pieces marked "opinion."
Mr. Olsen seems to hold Studs Terkel in high repute. We, too, read Terkel. There’s no question what his "worldview" is. But there’s also no question from whence his worldview comes. It comes, in the main, from exhaustive and meticulously recorded and reported interviews with thousands of "common people." (It does not come from a second or third-hand source such as a radio station report or a construction worker who talks to a newspaper photographer who talks to the columnist…)
We submit that the best opinion writers ground their work in fact. For an opinion based on a chimera will simply collapse and evaporate under scrutiny. The writer’s opinions will have no credibility. And, without credibility, the writer has no currency.
Are we suggesting that an opinion writer’s opinions be balanced? Of course not. We are questioning how it is that opinions are generated.
We all know that two perfectly rational, honorable individuals can view exactly the same facts and come to a diametrically opposed opinion or view about what those facts mean and what their implications are. This is why there are "liberals" and "conservatives." And, in microcosm, this is why we rarely have a unanimous decision in news council deliberations.
We all view facts with our own sets of filters. But, in the best of worlds and the best of opinion pieces, opinion writers are viewing the facts. Articles of opinion based on fact rise from diatribe to discourse.
It is our contention that the real issue concerns whether these opinions/statements in Mr. Olsen’s columns are based in fact and, if they are not, what is their impact on public discourse and the public’s perception of city government. Is or is not that impact negative? Does this or does this not constitute a significant problem that needs to be redressed?
From the testimony received, it is clear that the opinions/statements in question are not based in fact. We also believe that these factual errors are significant. It is, therefore, our contention that the readers of the Roseau Times-Region and the city administration were ill-treated as a result.
Setting the Record Straight
Much discussion focused on whether Mr. Peterson had made a sufficiently concerted effort himself to correct the record on these and other allegations through writing letters to the editor or offering to write countervailing opinion pieces.
While these discussions were interesting, we submit that they were not germane to the complaint as filed and should have not had bearing on the outcome. Actually, it might have been our recommendation to Mr. Peterson, in framing his complaint, that he consider raising the issue of gaining meaningful access to the Times-Region.
From conversations with the publisher during the questioning period, it seemed evident that the paper lacks a coherent policy concerning letters and opinion pieces. When asked if she would consider running a regular column providing points of view other than those of Mr. Olsen, she said "yes," but that no one had come forward to offer such a column. Since Mr. Olsen’s columns seem consistently to cause her difficulty (e.g., The Minnesota News Council’s earlier finding that Mr. Olsen’s March 11, 2000 column was problematic.), one might think she would proactively seek other points of view to take off some of the heat.
We are also sympathetic to Mr. Peterson’s contention that, based on the way in which a recent letter writer (Adam Erdmann, August 13, 2005) was treated at the hands of Mr. Olsen, that paper "chills" letter writers who express contrary points of view. Olsen used his "bully" and unassailable "pulpit" to browbeat Mr. Erdmann-who has the temerity to disagree with him-into apparent submission. And Mr. Olsen was disingenuous enough to feign surprise that Mr. Erdmann didn’t write back to continue the "dialogue."
Mr. Peterson also pointed out that reporter Tim Holmseth took it upon himself to correct errors in one of Mr. Olsen’s columns one week later. But, he asks-and rightly so-does a correction a week or two after the fact in a news story, letter or column have the same impact as the original misinformation? Findings in communications research indicate that "primacy" is crucial. In other words, the information or misinformation received first has the most impact.
Summary
Based on the facts, as the abovementioned council members see them, it is our opinion that the complaint should have been upheld.
We hope this additional consideration of Todd Peterson v. Roseau Times-Region will be helpful and stimulate further discussion.
