Story On Young McCain Voters Did Not Disclose Subject's Ties to GOP Senator

By: Joe Strupp St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press Editor Thom Fladung defended a recent story about young voters supporting John McCain that spotlighted a former press secretary for Republican Sen. Norm Coleman -- but failed to mention the past connection.

"We did know about it and I am not quite sure how it is germane," Fladung told E&P Wednesday, a day after a local media Web site criticized the move. "It sure didn?t seem crucial to me. Of course the guy is a Republican supporter. We would have mentioned it if he had converted from something else."

The story by staff writer Megan Boldt ran Sunday and led with a paragraph about Andy Brehm, the former Coleman press secretary. It stated: "Andy Brehm is an e-mailaholic who frequently logs onto his Facebook social networking page to chat with his friends over the Web."

The story went on to add, "Brehm, 27, a recent law school graduate, is as tech savvy as they come. John McCain, 71, the presumptive Republican nominee, once said he's never done 'a Google.'"

After noting McCain's difficulties polling with younger voters, the story says, "Those numbers don't concern Brehm and some other young Republicans in Minnesota who are hitting the pavement to excite peers about McCain as the Republican National Convention in St. Paul gets closer."

But the story never mentions that Brehm had served as a key Coleman aide.

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Independent Web site, overseen by the Center for Independent Media, took issue with the story, writing that, "the fact that Brehm is a onetime payrollee of Republican Sen. Norm Coleman -- he was Coleman's press secretary -- didn't merit mentioning.

"Megan Boldt, who wrote the piece, explained why in an email: '[T]he paper doesn't see how that was relevant or germane to the story,' she wrote. 'I did know about Andy Brehm's background, but the story was on how young Republicans are trying to invigorate their peers behind the candidate before the upcoming convention.'"

Boldt did not respond to E&P requests for comment Wednesday. But Fladung said she mentioned the Independent inquiry to him and he did not believe it amounted to a problem.

"Would it have hurt the story to put it in? No. Did it hurt to keep it out? No," Fladung said. "I don't see the need for a clarification. Is there any question that the guy is a McCain supporter?"

Asked if he believed the Independent was overly critical of the coverage, Fladung said: "Anybody can question us anytime."