Oshkosh Northwestern Incorrect Correction Not Acceptable

by Tony Palmeri

April 14, 2002

Some may say we're being obstinate. I say, "Trust but verify." Believe me, we will run a correction when we get verification.--Stew Rieckman, Oshkosh Northwestern Executive Editor, March 31, 2002

On March 18, 2002 the Oshkosh Northwestern ran an above the fold front page story by Alex Hummel on Winnebago County's "pay for performance" plan. The story said in part: "The county's highest paid administrator, Human Services Director Keith Laux, could qualify for a more than $6,000 raise . . . Laux's salary would increase from $92,414 to $98,512 this year." Laux and Winnebago County County Executive Jane Van De Hey were the only two county adminstrators mentioned by name. The story included no quotes from Laux, nor any indication as to whether or not he was interviewed. Van De Hey contacted the newspaper almost immediately after the story appeared to explain that Mr. Laux does not qualify for pay for performance as he is a contract employee.

Instead of printing an immediate retraction based on the information obtained from Van De Hey, the newspaper demanded from the county a copy of Laux's contract or some other documentation of his employment status. In his column of March 31, 2002 ("On the trail of fixing mistakes"), Executive Editor Stew Rieckman rationalized the request for documentation in terms of the need to "verify we had made a mistake." Rieckman closed the column with "Today we have a better understanding of readers' expectations. They realize newspapers aren't perfect and have more respect for the newspaper if errors are acknowledged and corrected."

The correction finally arrived on April 13, 2002. Well, almost. On page A2, this "correction" appears:

Corrections

March 16, Page A6: Winnebago County pay-for-performance enhancements for Human Services Department Director Keith Laux were incorrect. Because of a specially negotiated contract, Laux does not qualify for pay for performance.

 

There are three problems with this correction. First, the story in which the inaccuracy appeared was printed on March 18th, not the16th as reported in the "correction" (Page A6 on March 16th includes 6 letters to the editor about ethanol, but no pay for performance story). This makes the April 13th item an "incorrect correction."

Second, because the March 18th story appeared above the fold in the main section (accompanied by the sensational headline "$6,000 annual raises possible in county") and was also the basis of a bitter March 22, 2002 editorial attack on Van De Hey, the incorrect correction does not do enough to set the record straight.

Third, the March 18th story and its aftermath are part of the Northwestern's continuing and disturbing trend to "go after" county government in general and Mrs. Van De Hey in particular in ways that are as petty as they are mean spirited. The fact that the Northwestern would not print a correction based on the information provided by Van De Hey, implying that she cannot be trusted to tell the truth about such matters or is as misinformed as the newspaper, is incredible.

Worse, in an attack editorial of March 22, 2002, Van De Hey is taken to task for not emulating Dane County Executive Kathy Falk's decision to take a personal 5 percent pay cut and cut 3 percent in salary from her county administrators. "In Winnebago County, Van De Hey slavishly sticks to the 'pay for performance' plan that will bestow 6 percent to 7 percent salary increases on the highest paid administrators in county government," said the paper. Conveniently absent from the editorial is the fact that Falk is running for governor and thus might have some special motivation for taking a pay cut, the fact that Van De Hey is already the lowest paid county executive in the state, and the fact that the March 18th story on pay for performance (the story on which the editorial is in large part based) contained the Laux error.

The purpose of this essay is not to defend county government or Jane Van De Hey. I have been and will continue to be highly critical of both. Rather, this essay has demonstrated that once again, the Oshkosh Northwestern has shown itself not able to uphold the Gannett Standards of Ethics the editorial board claims to live by. One standard is "We will correct errors promptly." The pay for performance story appeared on March 18th. The incorrect correction appeared on April 13th. Prompt?

Only Laux, Van De Hey, county employees and news junkies would have any idea what the April 13th correction is referring to. Common decency requires that the Northwestern correct the record in a front page story that should include apologies to Laux and Van De Hey.

Tony Palmeri welcomes your feedback

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