CHEAP SHOT ARTISTS AT WORK

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 21, 2013

FROM: DAN COHEN

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

CONTACT TROY WILSON

CAMPAIGN MANAGER

Troywilson2008@gmail.comor 612 655 3465

or cohendan1@msn.com CHEAP SHOT ARTISTS AT WORKAs Im sure most of you aware, I have picked a fight the Strib over their hypocrisy in

covering their Viking related real estate dealings. Payback is to be expected. Im a big

boy. Ive been in this game a long time, and as Mr. Dooley said: Politics aint beanbag.

However, theres a way to do it and a way not to do it, and the Strib has taken the low

road.

Two days ago, they launched a blog about my first Mayoral campaign, 44 years ago. Thats right, 44 years ago when I was defeated by a local cop, Charlie Stenvig. And heres the real news flash, I was endorsed by the ever-popular Richard Nixon. Nixon!

Im a Nixon man! Well, true enough, I was endorsed by Richard Nixon. I was also

endorsed by Gene McCarthy. But no mention of that. And if I remember correctly,

theres a kind of journalism 101 principle that applies here, but wasnt observed,

and that is, when you take a knock at someone, you give them a call and give

them a chance to answer before you do the deed. No call. No heads up. Nothing.

The next day, yesterday, I called the reporter and discussed my concerns. There

should have been a mention of Gene McCarthy. That would have shown I had

bi-partisan support. I wasnt just a Nixon guy. And I should have been called

before the story ran.

Result. No correction. Nothing.

Same day. I believe it was the article about Gary Schiffs withdrawal from the

Mayors race. There was a bit about those left standing. Jackie Cherryhomes,

a perfectly nice person whom I have know for years, is described as a former

President of the Minneapolis City Council. She was a former President of the

Minneapolis City Council. I am described as an alderman. I was an alderman, but

I was also a former President of the Minneapolis City Coucnil, and as I said

Yesterday to the Strib reporter who did this story, if Jackie is going to be described as a former President of the Minneapolis City Council, I should have been described as a former President of the Minneapolis City Council.

Result. No correction. Nothing.

Now, these are minor matters. Nobody gives a damn about who did or didnt

have some tie to Richard Nixon 44 years ago. But its symptomatic of an enterprise

which just cant bring itself to be a real newspaper. Instead of responding to my

criticism of their failure to be open and forthright about their Viking real estate dealings

Im getting these teeny weeny cheap shots.

In the Strib: on May 12, the Strib editor, Nancy Barnes, wrote an op ed piece proclaiming

that the paper would provide thorough coverage of the Viking stadium issue.

There days later, in another article, the Strib reported it had sold five blocks of

Viking related real estate to a local developer for an undisclosed sum. That

isnt thorough coverage. That violates the principle you have often proclaimed

of the peoples right to know. The peoples right to know shouldnt end on your

doorstep. I want to know why you dont want us to know. Here we have an enterprise just four years out of bankruptcy, then purchased by

a hedge fund, the Wayzata Partners. Why would they buy an enterprise with

such a dismal financial record in a dying industry if not for the real estate.

Why would they sell it after vigorously promoting the development around it just

at the moment the approval of the new 975 million dollar stadium was secured.

Are they retaining an interest they dont care to have know about. And why

Wouldnt they want us to know about it? Because then their conflict of interest

becomes obvious. Developments involve rezonings, variances, conditional uses,

permits, street realignments, all the sort of stuff that requires government approvals.

Newspapers seeking government action for their business dealings have a

conflict of interest problem.

It becomes next to impossible to tell where the journalism ends and

the real estate company begins.

And because the financing of the stadium is still unresolved with the failure of

the idiotic pull tab fiasco to absorb 350 million dollars of Viking stadium debt

the state is obliged to pay, the paper may have a huge interest in how this issue

is decided. Another conflict of interest between journalism and their business

dealings.

So thats why an undisclosed sum should be disclosed, as should any and all the conditions surrounding the sale..

The people also have a right to know who we are in business with here.

I want know who the Wayzata Partners are. This is the hedge fund that owns this paper.

The Wayzata Partners. Not the Seward Partners,. Not the Powderhorn Partners.

Not the Linden Hills Partners. Not the Dinkytown Partners. Not the Cedar-

Riverside Partners. Not the North Partners. Not the Northeast Partners.

Not the Kenwood Partners.

The Wayzata Partners. Anyone I know? Anyone who doesnt want to

see their name in the papers. Why would any hedge fund that calls itself

the Wayzata Partners have any interest in the city of Minneapolis except to

make a few million more bucks off us.

So there it is I want to pick a fight the paper. On real issues.

So leave the cheap shots out of it. And lets get it on.

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