Newsworthy Episodes 1996-2006

Episodes are available to cable TV stations for broadcast. Contact the News Council staff via e-mail at info at news-council dot org or by phone at (612) 341-9357.

Newsworthy is a half-hour television program that explores the values of news decision-makers and of news consumers. The host is Gary Gilson, the News Council’s executive director emeritus, whose work in the Twin Cities, New York and Los Angeles has earned five Emmy Awards. 2006 2006-1: Gary Gilson hosts Minnesota Public Radio’s Michael Skoler and Andrew Haeg talk about the Public Insight Journalism Initiative, a new effort to emphasize citizen involvement in shows like Marketplace and Weekend America. (Trt 28:20) 2006-2: Minnesota News Council Director Gary Gilson talks with Katherine Kersten, the Star Tribune columnist whose work has consistently provoked more reader comment than any writer’s in years. (Trt 27:31)   2006-3: Tom Bartel, co-publisher of The Rake, speaks to Gary Gilson about his alternative news, arts, and feature magazine. (Trt 28:13) 2006-4: Keith Moyer, publisher of the Star Tribune, discusses his background and the role of publisher in the news business with Minnesota News Council director Gary Gilson. (Trt 27:14) 2006-5: The new executive editor of the Pioneer Press, Thom Fladung, ponders changes in the Twin Cities media scene, including mergers, with Gary Gilson. (Trt 27:47)   2006-6: (PART ONE OF TWO) Doug McGill, formerly of the NY Times and Bloomberg News, talks with host Gary Gilson about contemporary journalism. (Trt 26:43) 2006-7: (PART TWO OF TWO) Doug McGill discusses his “McGill Report,” an online site that breaks foreign news by using immigrant sources within the U.S. Gary Gilson is host. (Trt 27:35) 2006-8:Ali Galaydh, a former government minister in Somalia and now at the Humphrey Institute, breaks down the Twin Cities Somali community for Minnesota News Council director Gary Gilson. (Trt 28:37) 2006-9: Some of the creators of the Twin Cities Daily Planet, a new citizen journalism website, pay a visit to Gary Gilson: culture editor Rich Broderick and Ann Alquist, KFAI Radio news director. (Trt 28:36) 2006-10: Professor and historian Mahmoud El-Kati talks with host Gary Gilson about hot topics in news coverage of black Americans. (Trt 28:28)   2004 2004-1: Star Tribune photographer Mike Zerby and host Gary Gilson explore how photography relates to reporting and news. (Trt 26:26) 2004-2: Minnesota News Council director Gary Gilson welcomes Hannah Allam, a prize-winning reporter for the Pioneer Press who covers the Middle East and Islamic world. (Trt 26:43) 2004-3: Gary Gilson talks with Brian Lambert, a former media critic at the Pioneer Press and adviser to Senator Mark Dayton. (Trt 26:46) 2004-4: Michael Skoler, a former science and foreign correspondent and now managing news director at Minnesota Public Radio, speaks with Gary Gilson about public radio and publicly funded journalism. (Trt 26:38) 2004-5: Minnesota News Council director Gary Gilson interviews Steve Perry, editor of the City Pages and local politico.(Trt 26:45) 2004-6: Lou Gelfand, 81, has had the longest run in one of the least desirable jobs in publishing: 22 years as the one-man complaint department for the Star Tribune. Gary Gilson is host. (Trt 26:44) 2004-7: Gary Gilson talks with Eric Black, who writes about national and world news for the Star Tribune. He has been a journalist since 1973, with the Star Tribune since 1977, and is the author of 1.74 million newspaper articles and five books. (Trt 26:41) [No 2004-8] 2004-9: St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter Aron Kahn and host of Minnesota Public Radio Midmorning Kerri Miller discuss journalism and the New Council with Gary Gilson. (Trt 26:14) 2004-10: University of Minnesota journalism professor and media critic Gary Schwitzer looks at news coverage of health issues. Minnesota News Council director Gary Gilson is host. (Trt 26:44)   2002 2002-1: Former newspaper and television reporter and editor Dave Nimmer talks about the state of the news business with Minnesota News Council Director Gary Gilson. Nimmer recently retired as a journalism teacher at the University of St. Thomas. (Trt 26:06) 2002-2 : Maja Beckstrom, a St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter, and her editor, Lynda McDonnell, talk about their award-winning series on the lives of children left alone after the murder of their mother. The Minnesota News Council’s Gary Gilson is host. (Trt 26:03) 2002-3: Star Tribune columnist James Lileks talks about his personal web site, on which he sends forth fancy, vitriol and reality, seeking interactive participation from Webloggers anywhere. News Council Director Gary Gilson is host. (Trt 26:03) 2002-4: (PART ONE of TWO) KSTP-TV Anchor Harris Faulkner describes the unusual way she broke into the news business and how she worked her way up to a major-market job. News Council Director Gary Gilson is host. (Trt 26:05) 2002-5: (PART TWO of TWO) KSTP-TV Harris Faulkner talks about how decisions are made in the newsroom about which stories to cover and how to cover them. Minnesota News Council Director Gary Gilson is host. (Trt 26:03) 2002-6: A leading Star Tribune news manager, Duchesne Paul Drew, talks about how his values as a journalist took shape. Drew recently completed a term as president of the Twin Cities Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The Minnesota News Council’s Gary Gilson is host. (Trt 26:37) 2002-7 : Star Tribune Washington Correspondent Kevin Diaz, back in Minnesota to cover political campaigns, talks about his job and his journalistic values with News Council Director Gary Gilson. (Trt 26:36) 2002-8 : Three people who have served on the Minnesota News Council talk about their experiences as voting members and about how anyone can apply for membership. The Council’s director, Gary Gilson, is host. (Trt 26:36) 2002-9 : Award-winning City Pages writer G.R. Anderson talks about his prize story: the loss of pension benefits by an elderly telephone company employee. Anderson describes the life of a freelance writer aspiring to a staff position. Minnesota News Council Director Gary Gilson is host. (Trt 26:22)   2001 2001-1:Walker Lundy, Jr., editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, talks with host Gary Gilson about Governor Ventura's criticism of the newspaper and about how the paper decides what news is. (Filmed 01/2001) (Trt 27:15) 2001-2:Mary Shepard, a long-time political activist and media critic, talks with host Gary Gilson about her views of media bias and what she calls failure to cover important stories. (Filmed 02/2001) (Trt 28:41)   2000 2000-1:Gail Plewacki, former policewoman turned TV news reporter (KSTP) reflects on a decade of work in her new field. (Filmed 03/20/2000) (Trt 28:45) 2000-2:Steve Berg, Star Tribune editorial writer, talks about how his paper's editorial board decides what issues to write about and what position to take. Minnesota News Council Director Gary Gilson is host. (Filmed 05/23/2000) (Trt 28:16) 2000-3: Gary Hill, head of KSTP-TV's investigations unit and a leader of the ethics-based Society of Professional Journalists, talks about investigative reporting. Minnesota News Council Director Gary Gilson is host. (Filmed 05/23/2000) (Trt 28:35) 2000-4: Jane Kirtley, director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law, and one of the nation's leading defenders of press freedom, talks with News Council director Gary Gilson about current strains in the relationship between the press and the public. (Filmed 07/11/2000) (Trt 28:38) 2000-5: A high school newspaper editor and two faculty advisers talk with News Council director Gary Gilson about serious reporting on real-life concerns of teenagers and about attempts by school officials to censor student journalists. (Filmed 07/11/2000) (Trt 28:42) 2000-6: With serious criticism of local journalism hard to find, more people are turning to the Internet web site known as cursor.org. Its founders, Mike Tronnes and Rob Levine, talk with News Council director Gary Gilson about how the public can participate. (Filmed 07/25/2000) (Trt 28:13) 2000-7:John Finnegan, retired executive editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press & Dispatch, talks with host Gary Gilson about the ways in which journalism has changed in recent years and about what journalists must do to build public trust. (Filmed 07/25/2000) (Trt 28:40)   1999 1999-1: Linda Kelsey, the actress who played reporter Billie Newman in "The Lou Grant Show," became the WCCO-TV arts reporter in February 1999. Linda lives in St. Paul with her husband and children. She explains how she got her job and how real life in a newsroom differs from "Lou Grant." She continues to act and says she is passionate about exploring the lives and work of artists in various fields in her WCCO profiles. (Filmed 02/1999) (Trt 29:51) 1999-2: Laura Billings, the new local columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, talks to host Gary Gilson about her development as a writer and how she approaches the challenges of three columns a week. (Filmed 03/1999) (Trt 29:58) 1999-3: Host Gary Gilson talks with St. Paul Pioneer Press editors — Emilio Garcia-Ruiz and investigative team leader Jeffrey Kummer — who managed the coverage of the University of Minnesota basketball scandal and talk about how the story took shape and how the paper decided to present it. (Filmed 04/21/1999) (Trt 29:30) 1999-4: (PART ONE of TWO) In part one, WCCO-TV news anchor Don Shelby discusses how he built his news career with no formal education in journalism, a career in which he later earned his profession’s highest awards. He talks about why he criticized the News Council when it heard the Northwest Airlines complaint and why he later accepted an invitation to join the Council. (Filmed 06/14/1999) (Trt 29:24) 1999-5: (PART TWO of TWO) In part two, WCCO-TV news anchor Don Shelby talks about the changing values of television news and about his misgivings over the aspirations of today’s young TV news people. (Filmed 06/14/1999) (Trt 28:45) 1999-6:Eric Black is a Star Tribune writer whose job is unique in American newspapers — he explains such complicated matters as Middle East politics and the history of hostilities in Kosovo. Black discusses his new series on how the world has changed since the Cold War ended. (Filmed 09/01/1999) (Trt 28:19) 1999-7: Bruce Benidt, former journalist and journalism teacher, now chief learning officer for Shandwick Intl. PR agency, talks about how to prepare to be interviewed for a news story. (Filmed 11/04/1999) (Trt 29:58) 1999-8: Irv Cross, former professional football player and CBS network sports analyst, now athletic director at Macalester College in St. Paul, talks about how race may be a factor in sports reporting. Cross, who is black, talks about his formative years and about his development as a student, an athlete and a businessman who has dealt with media ethics from the outside and the inside. (Filmed 11/04/1999) (Trt 28:06)   1998 1998-1: St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter Lynda McDonnell talks about declining public trust in journalism. McDonnell and host, Gary Gilson, talk with the youngest member of the News Council, Zoua Vang, 20, a U of M journalism and history student. (Filmed 02/18/1998) (Trt 29:51) 1998-2: Guest Pat Bursen, a reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, discusses the issue of diversity among journalists with host, Gary Gilson. (Filmed 02/18/1998) (Trt 29:51) 1998-3: Host Gary Gilson examines the news media’s use of weak and anonymous sources in stories about the relationship between President Clinton and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, and talks with two News Council members: Terry Thompson (Pillsbury) and Kate Stanley (Star Tribune). (Filmed 04/07/1998) (Trt 29:07) 1998-4: News Council director Gary Gilson, with an anecdotal approach, uses high-profile News Council cases to show how the news media, the public and the Council can achieve media accountability, raise standards and increase fairness. (Filmed 04/07/1998) (Trt 29:45) 1998-5: Tom van der Linden, owner and editor of the Houston County News in La Crescent, MN (circulation 2,000) explains his decision not to publish a story about a small-town mayor’s alleged misappropriation of public funds. The Houston paper allowed itself to be scooped because it did not have a reliable source and would not violate its standard of fairness. (Filmed 07/24/1998) (Trt 29:50) 1998-6: St. Paul Pioneer Press Managing Editor Vicki Gowler talks about how her paper organizes its staff and its news coverage. (Filmed 09/08/1998) (Trt 29:51) 1998-7: Readers and viewers of news size up the news business and host Gary Gilson sets the stage for an October 22 national forum on accountability for news media to be held at the University of Minnesota. (Filmed 10/1998) (Trt 28:32) 1998-8:Geneva Overholser, former ombudsman for The Washington Post newspaper, and syndicated columnist, discusses accountability for the news media. She is very critical of inadequate corrections and of too many journalists’ often-arrogant refusal to respond to the public’s questions about ethics. Held at Minnesota Journalism Center. No Introduction. (Filmed 11/1998) (Trt 29:40)   1997 1997-1: Attorney Marshall Tanick discusses the news media’s use of hidden cameras and deception in journalism. (Filmed 01/30/1997) (Trt 29:24) 1997-2: Guests John Kostouros and Nancy Conner accompany host Gary Gilson in a lively discussion addressing the News Council's findings in the Mankato Free Press ruling. In part two of this discussion, the panel addresses issues raised by Mike Wallace at the JFK School of Government concerning the declining state of journalism. (Filmed 03/05/1997) (Trt 29:50)   1996 1996-1: Guests Mike Wallace, News Council member Carol Pine, and Star Tribune reporter Bob Franklin — in separate segments — talk about fairness. Pine describes the activities and services of the News Council. (Filmed 07/17/1996) (Trt 29:50) 1996-2: KARE-TV’s Executive Producer Lonnie Hartley talks about decision making in a local TV newsroom. He explains why his station violated its own guideline against reporting a suicide in the high-profile incident at the IDS Tower. (Filmed 09/1996) (Trt 29:50) 1996-3: Reporter-turned attorney, Lucy Dalglish, discusses the case of Minneapolis politician John Derus, whose picture mistakenly appeared in the Star Tribune on election day under the headline about charity fraud. He contended it cost him the election and that the paper did it deliberately. (Filmed 10/1996) (Trt 29:50) 1996-4:Northwest Airlines/WCCO-TV Hearing (Filmed 11/12/1996) (Trt 29:50)