HEARING INDEX: POLITICAL ISSUES

Complaint	Hearing # Year	Decision	Media	Description
Refusal to accept a political ad	#3 1972	N	Union Advocate	Paper denied ad, citing policy of accepting ads from only labor-endorsed candidates
Refusal to accept a political ad	#6 1973	U	Pipestone County Star	Error by newspaper staff led to rejection of an ad by one candidate but carrying an ad by another candidate in election day paper
Inaccurate coverage	#8 1973	--	Duluth News-Tribune	State representatives complained of inaccuracies in several news stories and an editorial; before hearing, paper published clarification
Misleading coverage	#9 1974	N*	St. Paul Pioneer Press	Indirect quote misleadingly portrayed a state representative as advocating election of Catholics to achieve constructive change
Deniedaccess	#12 1974	U	Dakota County Tribune	Precinct chair says he was denied fair access to respond to an open letter critical of him
Inaccurate opinion poll, inadequate coverage	#18 1975	N	Mpls Star & Mpls Tribune	Two independent candidates for governor complained about inaccuracy of opinion poll results; inadequate coverage
Misrepresentation, reputation	#21 1976	N	Apple Valley Free Press	Candidate thinks editorial analyzing an interview he gave for a news story maligned his character and misrepresented interview
Publisher manipulated letters	#23 1976	U	Stillwater Evening Gazette	Publisher manipulated letters policy in order to oppose a candidacy
Old news, reputation	#25 1977	N	Minneapolis Star & Minneapolis Tribune	Candidate objects to reference to embarrassing lawsuit from 19 years before, not newsworthy
No evidence for claims of wrongdoing	#41 1980	U	Duluth News-Tribune	Coalition for Progressive DFL complained that paper failed to substantiate claims of fundraising impropriety
Failure to cover, lack of access, ads	#51 1983	N/--/--	Austin Daily Herald	• Unfairly demanded changes in political ads • Refused to publish one ad • Denied supporters access to letters column
Noncoverage of 3rd party election returns	#55 1985	U/N*	Minnesota Media	Minnesota Citizens Party complains of lack of coverage of election returns for 3rd party candidates in all Minnesota media
Last-minute election letters	#56 1985	--	Dodge County Independent	Candidate letters raising new issues in last issue before election
Political endorsements on election day	#57 1985	U	North Suburban Press	Paper published editorial endorsement (a rewrite of one that appeared the previous week) on election day
Refused to accept advertisements	#58 1985	N*	St. Paul Pioneer Press	Unfairly denied parody of Press ad (citing paper's investment in its own promo ads); 2nd ad denied as unauthorized by IR
Unfair editorial about campaign practices	#59 1985	U	St. Peter Herald	Paper unfairly charged candidate with "dirty tricks," then would not meet with complainant to discuss complaint
Publishing a false advertisement	#60 1985	U*	Delano Eagle	Newspaper published ad that had false info & did not acknowledge its fault
Ads placement bias, lack of access, editing	#61 1985	N*/--/U	Waconia Patriot, Carver County News, Norwood Times	• Candidate complained that his ads were more often placed near back of issue, which he considered unfavorable • Letter of political support edited down • Letter responding to ad N in last week
Inaccurate, biased stories & endorsement	#67 1987	U/R*	St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch	Editorial endorsement based on false claims that candidate spread rumors and made derogatory comments about opponent
Inaccurate ad, last-minute ads	#72 1988	N/U	Chisholm Free Press-Tribune	• Opponent ran ad and open letter candidate says were inaccurate and paper should have checked • Ad and letter run in last issue before election
Inflammatory endorsement	#79 1989	N*	Circulating Pines	Candidate for Congress characterized as a spy for his work in counter-intelligence for military
Political article as news, letter inequalities	#95 1992	U/U*/U	Stillwater Evening Gazette	• Campaign manager not identified as such in letter supporting candidate • Unequal treatment of thank-you's • Campaign piece as front-page news, author not identified as campaign worker
Bias, publication of misleading campaign letter	#97 1993	U/N	NorthWest News	• Candidate charges that newspaper published a misleading letter that implied he was an atheist, although the editor knew he was not; • Paper was biased in its coverage of his campaign
Failure to contact, failure to investigate charges	102 1994	N	Winona Daily News	County commissioner complains that paper didn't contact him for response when another commissioner said constituents had asked if he was "on the take or just stupid." Further, he complains that paper didn't clear him of charges.
Failure to contact, inaccurate, defamation	103 1995	U/N/N	Twin Cities Reader	• Spouse of political candidate complains that he was significantly featured in a story about his spouse's campaign but wasn't contacted, • that the story inaccurately characterized the outcome of a lawsuit he had filed, • that the article defamed him by reporting that he had once had a financial interest in a "whorehouse."
Bias in news story, editorial, letters column and policies	122 1998	--/U/U		• News story was biased and misleading; paper didn't ask candidate for her side of the story. • Editorial was inaccurate, misleading, one-sided and attacked candidate personally with sexist remarks. • Paper was unfair in its letters column and gave opponent unfair advantage.
Unfair letters policy, failure to interview candidate prior to endorsements	124	N/N	Eden Prairie News	• Candidate for legislature charged that paper was unfair by not publishing letters from her supporters and not having a consistent letters policy • Paper was unfair when it endorsed one candidate without interviewing any others
Unfair news story, one-sided, biased, improperly influenced by politician	125	U	Savage Pacer	Candidate for mayor charges that paper was unfair to print story about sexual harassment case settled out of court because he wasn't free to give his side
Inaccurate, bias	140	N	Prior Lake American	Former mayor and two city council members complained of inaccurate information and a reference to a "secret meeting." The Council deemed the information and language reasonably accurate.
Inaccurate	141	N	Roseau Times-Region	Complaint that city goverment reporter wrote column without attending meetings. Council determined that reporter read minute and, followed news reports on city doings. Additionally, the column was openly an opinion-piece.
Inaccurate	144	U	KSTP-TV	Council members complained that a story inaccurately reported that a development project had stalled.
Inaccurate, sensationalized	145	U	KSTP-TV	City Council complained a story wrongly represented a demolition as a malicious act of the city. The MN News Council determined the demolition had been routine.
Unbalanced	146	N	Star Tribune	A former mayor complained that the paper failed to call him for comment and used "antics" to describe his time in office. The paper acknowledged they should have called for comment, but presented convincing evidence for the use of "antics."
Biased, Last-Minute Criticism	153	N, N, N	Duluth Budgeteer News	A candidate for school board complained that an editorial that made reference to "dirty tricks" was unfair. The Council denied his complaints.