The article paints a glowing portrait of Rep. Mark Olson. Althought the article mentions a few of Mark Olson's nutty ideas, It does not mention Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)... a project Mark Olson devoted a great deal of his time at the capital... not surprising considering Mark Olson's partner in the PRT scam, Dean Zimmermann was just convicted of bribery in Federal Court and awaits sentencing.
The following is a letter to the editor of the Sherburne County Citizen forwarded to me with permission to post it on this blog.
Dear Mr. Meyer,
My name is Tommy Johnson. Earlier this year I sought the DFL endorsement for Congress in the Third Congressional District. While several campaigns have since asked for and received advice, I want to make clear I am not a member of any campaign. I am a member of the DFL Veteran’s Caucus. The following speaks for no one but my self.
Yesterday, I attended a political house party for Jim Huhtala, Glen Resman, and Patty Wetterling in Big Lake. Afterwards, I was shown a Sherburne County Citizen webpage containing what I could not determine was an opinion, an article, a press release, or an advertisement. I was told this page was the same as published in print, on the website it is in the “news” section.
Here’s the link:
http://www.citizennewspaper.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=7261
My initial reaction was that while possible, this piece could not, should not, be the work of a newspaper employee.
I was asked by a member of Mr. Huhtala’s campaign for my thoughts and advice. I was so disturbed by this item, for a multitude of reasons, that I have decided to contact you directly and copy Mr. Huhtala and others.
I will not speculate on motive nor will I comment on content. I will suggest remedy based on the assumption this was a campaign generated item due to two glaring facts:
There was no byline identifying the writer; the only quotes used were by candidate Mark Olson and Republican Party District 16B Chair Mark Swanson.
I would argue you at minimum owe the Huhtala campaign a full explanation of how this item ended up in print, as published.
I researched Minnesota News Council Determinations. Decision #95 appears to address similar issues and the first complaint was unanimously upheld.
http://www.news-council.org/Outcomes/outcomes_det-95.html
My personal opinion is the upheld grounds for complaint #1 in Decision #95 are not as serious as the complaint that could be made for this item. However, I do not feel the public would be served if a complaint were to be filed until your publication has contacted Mr. Huhtala’s campaign to explain how you intend to equitably rectify this incident.
If this item was a campaign generated piece, I do not fault the Olson campaign for the finished placement – it is the publication’s responsibility to hold themselves to journalistic standards and ethics.
If this item was a campaign generated piece, clearly you owe the Huhtala campaign the same size and placement.
However this item ended up in print, you owe your readership an explanation of how this happened and what steps will be taken to ensure it never happens again – I would argue in editorial format.
The Fourth Estate has a rights, and responsibilities. Clearly, your publication failed to exercise the latter.
Tommy Johnson
Eden Prairie
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