Determination
29
Minnesota
News Council
In the Matter of the Complaint of
Michael Crowley against the Mpls Tribune
Michael Crowley, editor of the University of Minnesota
Law School's student newspaper Quaere, complained that a story in the
Tribune contained a similar lead and some of the same information as
a story he had previously published and copyrighted in the student paper.
He claimed that the Tribune acted unethically and unprofessionally because
its story contained no mention of his earlier story and because it was
"taken in large part" from it.
Background: Crowley's story was on the implications
of a student research project studying juror attitudes. The Tribune
story began, as did Crowley's, with a variation on the adage that
every defendant has a right to a fair trial. The first three paragraphs
of the Tribune story contained the same information as Crowley's,
indicating jury bias in Hennepin County. The Tribune story did not
mention Crowley's.
Crowley complained that the Tribune appropriated
"the heart of" the Quaere article and copied his analysis, style,
and structure. He asked that the Tribune print an acknowledgment that
their story was taken "in large part" from the Quaere story. The Tribune
refused, but offered to print a letter from Crowley about the newspaper's
handling of the story. Crowley declined the offer.
Response of the news organization: The Tribune
editor in his written response to the complaint argued that although
printing an acknowledgment with the story that the study was first
brought to public attention in Quaere would have been the "gracious"
thing to do, the paper was correct in rejecting Crowley's request
for a printed acknowledgment. He wrote that the paper acted correctly
in offering instead to print a letter to the editor from Crowley explaining
"his criticism of our procedure in handling the story."
Determination of the Council: The Hennepin
County aspect of the research studied by both reporters provided the
logical news tie-in for both newspapers; thus, the similarity in focus
is not surprising. There is no assurance that without having first
read the Quaere story, the Tribune reporter would not have chosen
the same facts for his lead or arranged the information in the same
order. There was insufficient evidence that the Tribune appropriated
Crowley's earlier story "in large part."
The Tribune offered an appropriate remedy to Crowley
by offering him access to the letters column. Acknowledgment of the
Quaere article within the Tribune story would have been appropriate,
but was not ethically required.
The complaint against the newspaper is not upheld.
November 7, 1977
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