Media Bias on Global Warming ?

On April14th 2007 there was a Tax Cut Rally on the steps of the capitol building in St. Paul, MN which drew approximately 5000 people. Which is believed to be the largest such gathering at the capitol. Much of the local news seemed to want to give the Sierra Club's Earth Day Rally(strange that national earth day was the following weekend) the majority of the news coverage. One news cast described the number of people gathered at the Tax cut rally as being "dozens". Well I guess 410 dozen was too much to say with the limited time they had. My 17 year old son even said to that there were way more than dozens at the rally. Another station KSTP lumped all the attendee's of both rallies and made it seem as if between the rallies there were 5000 people in attendance when in fact there were that many at the Tax Cut Rally alone and some put the number as high as 7000. Here's a link to that story.

http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/s54873.shtml

Another news cast even went so far as to post video of the Sierra Club's rally on their web site and called it Raw Video: Global Warming Protest on Capitol Hill. That's fine however the footage of the crowd at the beginning and the end of this video is of the Tax Cut Rally going on at the same time as the Global Warming Protest

How would I know you ask? I was there and I was blown away with the media coverage or lack there of. Here is a link to the video footage that WCCO posted and has since taken down.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=n43C3m5iI8s

 Here's where the video was originally

http://wcco.com/topstories/topstories_story_104231916.html

Final link here are some photos to show how many were in attendance at this rally and it was more than "dozens". BTW the tents in the background of picture 6 are where the thousands are at for the global warming rally.

http://www.pheistyblog.com/archives/68

Here's the first letter received from The Minnesota News Council in response to the complaint of unfair coverage by the local media.

Hi Sue,

We received your fax including your signed waiver yesterday.  Hanna is going to be out of the office the rest of the week, so I wanted to contact you with a quick update.

First, I’ll share a bit more about our process with you:  Since you and your group of tax-cut rally attendees were clearly alluded to in WCCO’s coverage of the “anti-global warming” rally, when WCCO showed your images on its news broadcast, you all qualify as private complainants.  Private complainants are eligible for a public hearing, if their complaint remains unresolved to either party’s (complainant or media) satisfaction after a 30-day conversation period.  We ask that private complainants sign our waiver of their right to sue, so that media organization may fully participate in our process without fear of legal action being taken against them.  The Minnesota News Council is an alternative to courts and litigation.  At News Council public hearings our hearing board - comprised of 12 public members, 12 media members and one non-voting chairperson – convene to hear your complaint.  At a public hearing the complainant presents his or her complaint, the media organization presents a response to the complaint and the hearing board members have the opportunity to ask both parties questions.  After a period of deliberation, the members vote to either uphold or deny the complaint presented to them.  The News Council’s determinations carry no sanctions; they are advisory, and are released to media organizations throughout Minnesota that publish the hearing’s results.

When we forward your complaint to WCCO, a 30-day conversation period begins.  We ask the media outlet to respond to your complaint, and we’ll check in every 10 days for 30 days to see if any progress has been made in resolving your complaint.  If the complaint remains unresolved after this period, we’ll schedule a public hearing, if you choose to proceed in this manner.

After reading some of your dialogue with the group, I believe that I’ve figured out the best way for us to proceed with this complaint.  You’ll be the main point of contact for the group for simplicity’s sake.  We’ll keep the entire group updated if anything happens regarding your complaint, however, I’ll point out to WCCO that you are the main contact for this complaint.  We will pass the complaints of the entire group – we received twelve – on to WCCO.  This way, each individual’s concerns will be voiced to WCCO; however, we’re grouping you together, since all of the complaints are nearly identical.  This way, if the complaint is unable to be resolved to either party’s satisfaction, and a public hearing regarding the complaint is scheduled, having one group representative is most helpful.  I’ll also ask the group in an email, that if they wish their personal complaint to be passed on to WCCO that they will have to sign a waiver, just as you did. 

I’ll wait to hear back from you before emailing the entire group again, especially regarding that last part.  Just let me know if this all sounds good to you.  And, again, if you don’t wish to take part in our public hearing process, we’re happy to pass them along to WCCO, letting them know you do not wish to hold a public hearing regarding these complaints, but giving them an opportunity to respond to your concerns.

Thanks again for your interest in the Minnesota News Council.

Regards,

Sarah Bauer

Sarah E. Bauer, Interim Director

MinnesotaNews Council
12 South Sixth Street, Suite 927

Minneapolis, MN 55402

(P) 612.341.9357

(F) 612.341.9358

(E) sarah.bauer@news-council.org

And finally here's the response to complaints that the media coverage was unfair.

NEWS RELEASE                                                                                          Contact:                                 

Sarah Bauer

Interim Director

612.341.9357

sarah.bauer@news-council.org                                                                                 

NEWS COUNCIL UPHOLDS TWO COMPLAINTS AGAINST WCCO-TV BY ATTENDEES OF AN APRIL 14^TH TAX CUT RALLY

Minneapolis (June 21, 2007) - The Minnesota News Council voted today to uphold two complaints against WCCO-TV by several attendees of an April 14^th tax cut rally at the state capitol.  It was the first time that News Council members were asked to examine a complaint regarding online news coverage at a hearing. 

The News Council voted 14-0 to uphold a complaint that video posted at WCCO’s Web site misrepresented tax cut rally attendees when it featured footage of them along with footage from a global warming protest held the same day.  The video was originally accompanied by a caption that described the global warming protest.  Shortly before the hearing began, WCCO corrected the error on its Web site by adding a new caption to reflect that the video did in fact contain images from both rallies.   

The News Council also voted 10 – 3 with one abstention to uphold a complaint that WCCO acted unfairly when it retained the mislabeled video of both rallies at its Web site after the complainants notified WCCO of the error.  In an email to complainant Sue Derhaag the day of the hearing, WCCO News Director Jeff Kiernan explained that the footage posted online was produced by the national Web team - it was not produced locally - and that WCCO was unaware the video was still active.  Kiernan assured Derhaag that the text of the video description was changed nationally.  

Complainant Carolyn Wetterlin likened the mix-up to being misquoted, “I wasn’t personally damaged [by the video], but my cause was used for something I don’t support.”  Wetterlin and Derhaag were two of several people who attended the tax cut rally and later complained to the News Council.  Other complainants included Daniel Dietsche, Lisa Edwards, Lea Leonard, Roderick McKay and Forrest Wilkinson. 

Pioneer Press Editor and News Council member Thom Fladung commented on the new challenges presented by the Web. “It is hard to correct things online,” he said.  Even when mistakes are corrected online, he noted, the old versions live on somewhere.

WCCO-TV did not participate in the hearing, but did respond to the complainants to address issues being raised at the hearing. Participation is voluntary, and the News Council does not permit the fact that a news outlet chooses not to attend to affect the determination on the merits of the complaint and response.  The News Council’s determinations carry no sanctions – they are advisory. 

About the Minnesota News Council

The Minnesota News Council was created in 1970 to promote fair, vigorous and trusted journalism.  It presents complaints about accuracy and fairness to news organizations, holds public hearings to consider unresolved complaints and conducts public forums aimed at fostering trust in journalism.

http://talkspot.ktlkfm.com/forums/4/1561767/ShowThread.aspx

Let me know what you think? Was it a bias or just "sloppy" reporting?

Sorry about the updates corrected some typos still getting the hang of this.