Regional news council defends letter writer p. 17

By: M.L. Stein

Northwest panel upholds complaint
of Oregon woman who was taken to task in a satirical column
THE CONTROVERSIAL Northwest News Council has upheld the complaint of a Portland Oregonian reader whose letter to the editor was used in a satirical column.
A hearing was held on the complaint recently despite a previous written apology to the woman by Oregonian executive editor Sandra Mims Rowe. The Oregonian did not accept a news council invitation to present a defense at the hearing.
Feb. 12, the complainant, Julia Surt-shin of Lake Oswego, Ore., wrote to former managing editor Peter Thompson criticizing the paper's handling of her earlier letter protesting the "negative, stereotyped" portrayal of Californians by columnists Jonathan Nicholas and Phil Stanford.
Oregon is the destination of choice for many Californians fleeing that state because of crime, high unemployment and a faltering economy.
After reprinting most of her letter in his column, Nicholas wrote, "After much soul-searching, I've decided that Surtshin is completely right. There simply is no excuse for categorizing people in this manner, for implying that all those living south of our border are hot-poached, brain-dead booms who would spit on their own mothers if someone would actually come along and buy their $1.3 million two-bedroom bungalow so they could get the hell out of Sodom and move to Sunriver [Oregon].
"And so, henceforth, I will no longer be referring in this space to our neighbors as 'Californians.' I will simply refer to them as 'People who have not moved here . . . yet.' "
Surtshin, who appeared before the three-member council panel, asked, "Is this what can happen to any individual who bothers to write a critical letter to the paper ? to become fodder for ridicule by a columnist who holds all the cards?"
Panelist John Lindsay, vice president of television for Oregon Public Broadcasting, said, "There was great insensitivity shown to someone who was a reader of the Oregonian. The trivialization of this complaint seems very disrespectful."
The public member of the panel, Edith Lippert of Hillsboro, faulted the Oregonian for seemingly not having a clearly defined policy regarding use of names and for its five-month delay in sending Surtshin an apology. Ron Lovell, an Oregon State University professor and the panel's chairman, said the Oregonian's handling of Surtshin's letter indicates "an arrogance the media can't really afford to display these days."
Rowe, who was hired by the Oregonian well after the letter was submitted and reproduced in Nicholas' column, said she was surprised that the council decided to go ahead with the hearing after her July 22 apology to Surtshin.
"I saw no point in holding the hearing," she said. "A very clear apology was sent as soon as this matter came to my attention. It's obvious that her letter should not have been used in that way, but I do not consider this a major issue."
Rowe, who came to the Oregonian from the Virginian-Pilot and Ledger- Star, Norfolk, in June, declined to state her view of news councils but said, "My relationship with readers has always been a direct one and I plan to continue this policy."
Slightly more than a year old, the council is sponsored by regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Its acceptance by the news media has been "spotty," said its director, Oren Campbell.
The council has yet to be fully recognized by the area's major newspapers, including the Oregonian and Seattle Times, but has won support from several smaller papers.
The council and others in Minnesota and Honolulu are the only ones in the United States, which once had a national news council and various local and regional ones. News council decisions have no legal status and are not binding on the targeted media.
Campbell, who is a full-time adviser to the University of Washington campus newspaper, said the council plans to become an independent, non-profit organization.