Determination
25
Minnesota
News Council
In the Matter of the Complaint of
Bill Kjeldahl against the Mpls Star and Mpls Tribune
Bill Kjeldahl, one of four candidates in a special congressional
primary election, complained that reference in both papers to an embarrassing
lawsuit filed 19 years earlier, and dropped almost immediately, was
unfair and irresponsible journalism. He claimed that the references
were irrelevant to his capacity as a congressional candidate.
Background: The lawsuit was a 1958 alienation
of affection and slander suit involving Coya Knutson, who happened
to be one of the other candidates opposing Kjeldahl in the 1977 congressional
race. The suit was filed against Kjeldahl by the husband of Knutson,
for whom Kjeldahl had served as administrative assistant when she
served in Congress. Her husband withdrew the suit three weeks after
he had filed it, with his wife admitting in sworn testimony that there
was no basis for the charges. Kjeldahl said at the Council hearing
that he had never been given the opportunity at that time to refute
the allegations in legal proceedings.
Several weeks before the 1977 primary, a story in
the Star included a one sentence mention of the 1958 suit against
Kjeldahl and the hasty withdrawal of the charges. A story in the Tribune
included mention of the suit but not its outcome.
Kjeldahl complained that reference to the suit should
not have been made, and that the references may have been made simply
to embarrass him. He further claimed that the brevity of the references,
without any mention of the circumstances surrounding Knutson's later
testimony, was harmful to his campaign. He unsuccessfully sought a
retraction of the Tribune article.
Determination of the Council: Candidates for
public office are necessarily public figures and should expect more
exposure of the details of their lives through scrutiny by the media.
But responsible journalism mandates that in the process of informing
the public about someone seeking public office, news reports should
be fair, balanced, and accurate. In reviewing a lawsuit filed years
earlier, it would seem fair that not only the filing but also the
outcome be part of a balanced news account, even if the reference
is confined to one sentence.
The Star article was well within the bounds of accepted
journalistic standards of covering public figures. The Tribune article
would have been improved by mention of the outcome of the lawsuit;
following the omission, the clarification published Feb. 29 was the
appropriate remedy.
The complaints against the two newspapers are not
upheld.
March 18, 1977
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