A2Politico: The Ann Arbor Observer—“As you know, we made a serious error in reporting…”

by P.D. Lesko

IMAGINE MY SURPRISE  when I opened the February 2014 issue of The Ann Arbor Observer and discovered my photo. The title of the piece? “A $250,000 Election: This Year’s City Council Race Is Shaping Up As The Most Expensive In History.” I read that I had donated $7,849 to my own campaign in 2010: “Pat Lesko gave $7,849 to her own campaign in 2010— single-handedly putting her in third place on the list,” stated writer James Leonard. Leonard’s list was titled, “Ann Arbor’s Top Ten Political Contributors.”

Freelance writer James Leonard writes about politics for The Observer and he had not only misidentified me as one of the top three political contributors in the entire city, he had invented the fact that when I ran for office in 2010 I had not received a single campaign donation from anyone other than myself. In short, The Ann Arbor Observer and its co-owners Editor John Hilton and Publisher Patricia Garcia suggested I committed a very serious crime—campaign finance fraud.

My campaign finance forms filed in 2010 show that I did not donate $7,849 dollars to my own campaign; I donated $2,625. My total contributions listed were $6,733, including thousands in donations from individuals. The Ann Arbor Firefighter’s PAC spent several thousand dollars, as well, and those expenditures are reflected on that group’s 2010 campaign finance documents.

After Publisher Patricia Garcia examined my campaign finance forms for herself, we spoke. She kindly apologized for Leonard’s mistakes, and said that editor John Hilton had not checked Leonard’s work. Rather, she explained, John Hilton had “relied on Jim Leonard,” a work-for-hire freelance writer.

On February 21, 2014, I received the following email from John Hilton:

Hi Pat,

I’m following up on your conversations with Patricia about the errors in our February political donors list. 

As you know, we made a serious error in reporting your donations to your own mayoral campaign. We also confused Monique Wardner and Pat Johnston’s expenditures on behalf of the Jane Lumm campaign fund with donations to it. 

I’m running a brief note in the March issue to acknowledge and apologize for the errors. Jim Leonard and I are in the process of rechecking all the council and mayoral contribution records, and I plan to publish a corrected and updated list in the April issue. 

Jim and I apologize for the errors. We appreciate your bringing them to our attention. 

Thanks

John

In actuality, I don’t contribute to local, state and national political races, because as a journalist who writes about local, state and national races, to contribute would be unethical.

The Associated Press, the New York Times, Reuters, ABC News and other media companies have specific guidelines for journalists that pertain to activities that could jeopardize the perception of journalistic integrity — including making political donations. These outlets do not distinguish among types of employees – direct political participation is forbidden. The Society of Professional Journalists likewise features a conduct code that recommends journalists “avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived” and “remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.” There are political reporters who even refrain from voting.

For similar reasons, The Ann Arbor Independent does not accept paid advertising from local, county or state government, the public schools, or the county’s colleges.

Printing a correction a month later does little to mitigate The Observer’s several serious errors; printing a correction is one way for a publication to protect itself from libel suits. Printing a new list of “top donors” two months later is too little too late. This is not the first time I have called The Ann Arbor Observer to point out factual errors in Jim Leonard’s reporting, and it’s not the first time The Ann Arbor Observer will have printed a correction to a piece written by Leonard. This time, however, was simply the most clear-cut example of negligence on the part of both the writer and the tabloid’s owners.

Despite inaccurate reporting that has prompted repeated published corrections, The Observer continues to employ James Leonard to write about local politics. Recently, John Hilton was forwarded a private email written by a City Council member to constituents explaining repeated refusals to comment when approached by Leonard on behalf of The Observer.

The Observer’s repeated errors and misrepresentations in its reporting of local politics have angered local pols. This is why a recent story The Observer published about the city’s fire department relied entirely on Council member Chuck Warpehoski and John Hieftje. Other City Council members have taken to responding that they have “no comment,” when approached by Leonard.

At a recent City Council meeting, Mayoral candidate Stephen Kunselman lambasted The Observer for what he complained were repeated misrepresentations in an article about Downtown Development Authority. Kunselman also criticized the subsequent printed correction as allegedly inaccurate.

For an editor and a publisher to “rely” on a freelance writer to guarantee factual accuracy is not professional. The Observer circulates 60,000 copies and has 2,275 subscribers, according to its online media kit.  For the tabloid’s co-owners to apologize for repeated factual inaccuracies made by the same freelance writer does a disservice to those misquoted and misrepresented. Should readers trust The Observer’s political reporting? One Council member offered this summation:

“Many communities have monthly news publications that present an alternative view of the community. Some even do investigative journalism. Sadly, the Observer does not fill that role for Ann Arbor. At least they have a good events calendar.”