Determination
31
Minnesota
News Council
In the Matter of the Complaint of
Deidre Dodge against KBJR-TV, Duluth
Deidre Dodge, St. Louis County commissioner, complained
that three KBJR broadcasts concerning her recent election as chairman
of the county board and her performance as commissioner were inaccurate,
unfair and misleading. Dodge also claimed that the reports were researched
in an unethical manner and constituted a personal attack against her
by the station.
Background: In three separate news broadcasts,
the station's news director reported on the working record of St.
Louis County commissioner Dodge. With charts and commentary, the news
director attempted to show that Dodge had spent inadequate time in
her office as a commissioner and had accumulated a poor attendance
record for committee meetings. Two of the broadcasts included sections
of a taped interview with Dodge in which she responded to general
questions from the news director about her working record. She was
not confronted with specific details of the report. The other broadcast
included no response from Dodge.
Dodge complained that the broadcasts contained factual
inaccuracies, presented an unfair view of her working record and misled
television viewers about the actual amount of work she did, whether
in or out of her office. Dodge alleged that the reports were researched
in a sloppy and unethical manner; for example, reporters would telephone
her home to see if she was at home during office hours and would immediately
hang up if she answered, she said. She complained the reports constituted
a personal attack.
At the hearing Dodge presented signed statements
from several persons the station claimed to have contacted during
research for the reports. These persons stated the research was not
carried out as claimed. Dodge also challenged the appropriateness
of reporter assignment on the case, charging that the reporter selected
might have been biased against her as he had opposed her in a previous
primary contest.
Following a Council investigation that revealed discrepancies
between the station's reports and official government attendance records,
the station conceded that it inadequately researched its reports and
as a result inaccurately reported some facts in the broadcasts. The
station earlier offered Dodge an opportunity to refute the reports
on the air; Dodge refused, claiming her rebuttal would be less prominent,
professional, and effective than the three station reports.
Determination of the Council: The content
of the three television reports on Commissioner Dodge contained inaccuracies
as a result of inadequate research. Further, news organizations should
not make unofficial charges against a person without giving that person
a chance to reply; Dodge should have been presented with the specifics
of the charges and given an opportunity to respond during the reports.
To this extent, the complaint against the station
is upheld. An offer by the station to allow Dodge to come on the air
and respond to the reports after they had been broadcast was a reasonable
effort to remedy the situation. In addition, although the news broadcasts
were inaccurate and unfair, there was no evidence of a personal vendetta
against Dodge by the station. Dodge's assertion that a different reporter
should have been assigned to the story is rejected.
Therefore, the complaint is accepted in part, rejected
in part.
Concurring Opinion: Shellum, Finnegan, Spielman
- The station's news reports about the performance in office of Commissioner
Dodge were misleading because they were seriously imbalanced by the
persistent suggestion to viewers that attendance in office and at
committee meetings is the sole criterion by which performance of a
county commissioner should be judged. The station should have dealt
with that imbalance in the broadcasts by indicating any of the many
other grounds for judgment of performance. Failure to do this leaves
the broadcasts seriously misleading.
February 24, 1978
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