INTRODUCTION (Bill Gates Sr.): Nearly five years ago, John Hamer, Roz Woodhouse and I made a presentation to CDRT about the Washington News Council. The News Council was only a few months old then. We had met for the first time in November 1998, and adopted by-laws and elected officers in February 1999. Roz was chosen as the CouncilÃs first president. I was one of its original Public Members. I stepped down last year, after staying on the Council for four years, and am now a Member Emeritus. The Gates Foundation gave the Council a $25,000 start-up grant to help it get off the ground. We have continued to support the Council, with annual grants that by the end of next year will total $300,000. We are very pleased with the result of our investment. But five years ago it was a brand-new organization, full of hopes, plans -- and a lot of uncertainties.

I told you at the time: "The News Council wonÃt work miracles. But I believe over the long run it will improve the quality of news reporting and investigative reporting in this state ³ and that will be good for everyone." To use CDRTÃs current phrase, we were offering "leadership today for a sustainable tomorrow" by focusing on the news media. I think we all can agree that without good media, our whole democratic system suffers.

We told you then that the Council would have three main activities:

Well, the Washington News Council is now almost five years old. It has a clearly established track record. How has it performed? What has it accomplished? Have we met our original goals? We think the News Council has not only met its goals, but has surpassed them. WeÃve accomplished the things we set out to do, and more. However, itÃs still a young organization and like any non-profit, it faces many challenges and uncertainties.

Today weÃd like to give you a report card on the News Council. WeÃd like to update you on what weÃve done in the past five years ³ and why we believe itÃs important to keep the News Council strong for years to come. First IÃm going to tell you about our Complaint Process, Wes will tell you about our Public Forums, John will explain our Educational Programs, and then IÃll describe a few more things we do before taking questions.

The News CouncilÃs mission is to help maintain public trust and confidence in the news media by promoting fairness, accuracy and balance. One way we do this is by trying to resolve complaints from individuals or organizations who believe they have been damaged by specific news stories about them that were inaccurate or unfair. We have been called an "Outside Ombudsman" or even "Better Business Bureau" for the news media in Washington state. We often say we are "somewhere between a letter to the editor and a libel suit."

HereÃs how our complaint process works: If a reader, viewer or listener believes that they have been harmed by a story about them, of course the first thing they should do is call the newspaper or broadcast outlet and complain. Sometimes that gets results. Sometimes it doesnÃt. If it doesnÃt, complainants may call the News Council. The first thing we do is ask them if theyÃve tried to get a response from the news organization. If not, we urge them to do so. Then we explain how our process works, and send them our guidelines and complaint form. We also tell them ³ and this is very important ³ that if they decide to file a formal complaint, they must sign our waiver form pledging not to sue for libel or damages. The News Council is an alternative to litigation. We think this is good for both sides, because we offer both the public and the news media a way to avoid costly and time-consuming lawsuits.

If they actually file a formal complaint, we convene our Complaints Committee to consider it. That committee, like the full News Council, is made up of half Media Members, who have spent some part of their careers as professional journalists, and Public Members, who come from a wide range of backgrounds and professions. The Council is a very diverse mix of people ³ and we think thatÃs part of its strength.

The first thing the committee decides is: Does the complaint raise serious questions of journalistic performance or ethics? We donÃt discuss the merits at that stage ³ we just ask if it addresses serious issues of fairness, accuracy or balance. If it does, we accept the complaint. At that point, we notify the media organization that weÃve received a formal complaint and send them copies of everything ³ the complaint form, waiver form, and any additional statement from the complainant. Then our "30-day clock" starts ticking. We urge both sides to try to resolve the complaint within the next 30 days. We check after 10 days and again after 20 days to see how theyÃre doing. WeÃll help in any way we can if they ask us to.

At the end of 30 days, if they are unable to resolve the complaint, we will set a date for a News Council hearing. Our hearings are open to everyone, including the public and the press. We invite both the complainants and the media organization to make their case in person. Of course, media participation is entirely voluntary. We canÃt force anyone to participate. We are all strong defenders of the First Amendment. We have no legal powers or official authority ³ and we donÃt want any. We canÃt fine them, punish them or regulate them ³ and wouldnÃt want to. We are an independent citizens organization that happens to believe itÃs healthy to have open dialogue between citizens and journalists about media performance and ethics.

Our hearings are presided over by Bob Utter, Chairman of the News Council and former Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court. He doesnÃt vote, but he keeps the proceedings on track. We consider the complaint, ask questions, discuss it openly ³ and then vote on whether or not to uphold the complaint. ThatÃs basically it. We issue a press release, post the results on our website, and make a videotape available to anyone who wants to see it. Our hearings have been televised by TVW and The Seattle Channel, so theyÃre seen widely. Our only power is publicity ³ that is, holding the news media publicly accountable for their performance, in much the same way that they hold everyone else publicly accountable.

In our first five years, only three of our 17 formal complaints have led to hearings. In our first case, against The Daily Olympian, the complaint was upheld by a 9 to 6 vote of the Council. We took the Council to Olympia for the hearing. The newspaper chose not to participate, but their editor wrote a column on the day of the hearing explaining their position. To their credit, they also ran an Associated Press story explaining the complaint before the hearing and also the AP story reporting the results. The Olympian was not happy with the result, but the complainant was. He said afterward: "That outcome quite literally enabled me to gain back the dignity and respect I had lost in the community—.Nothing other than such a judgment by a peer institution like the Washington News Council could have achieved that result."

Our second hearing concerned a complaint by Professor Hubert Locke of the U.W, whom IÃm sure many of you know, against The Seattle Times. Hubert was very upset about the way The Times had characterized the work of a post-Mardi Gras citizens committee that he chaired to investigate what happened in Pioneer Square. But Hubert simply didnÃt make his case. The News Council did not uphold the complaint. The Times was exonerated, by a nearly unanimous vote. Again, The Times did not come to the hearing, but once they received the complaint they answered it in several extremely detailed letters from Mike Fancher and Jim Vesely, which we read into the record at the hearing. They also sent a reporter to cover the hearing, and ran a thorough story on it the next day ³ which they played prominently in the local section of the Sunday paper. So we thought they responded to the complaint in a significant way.

Our third and most recent hearing concerned a complaint against KIRO-TV filed by the Washington State Beef Commission and the Washington Dairy Products Commission. They contended that a series of "investigative reports" that aired on KIRO last fall were inaccurate, unfair, sensationalized and imbalanced. Their complaint was upheld on nearly every count at our hearing on June 14, with the News Council voting unanimously on the key questions related to accuracy and fairness. Again, KIRO chose not to participate, but they posted detailed responses to the complaint on their website ³ which we read into the record at the hearing. They were not happy with the process and actually accused us of "censorship," which is completely unfounded. We donÃt want to censor anyone ³ in fact, we offer them an opportunity to explain themselves in public. They also said the Council could have a "chilling effect" on investigative journalism. The only chilling effect we may have is on sloppy, inaccurate, unfair or sensationalized journalism.

We had another formal complaint earlier this year against the Highline Times/Des Moines News. It was filed by the Des Moines Chamber of Commerce. It turned out that these two organizations had been in a long-running feud that involved business dealings and personality conflicts. The more we learned about the history, the more we realized this was a kind of Hatfields vs. McCoys situation. So instead of a formal hearing, we offered to act as informal mediators. Bob Utter led the team. We met with both sides and suggested a compromise that they eventually agreed to. The newspaper published a column that corrected some errors they had made, while standing by other stories. The Chamber agreed to more open communication with the paper. We declared victory and went home.

We had another complaint against The Seattle Times a couple of years ago that we also helped resolve. The newspaper had not responded to the complainant for several weeks after he called them and met with them. So he filed a complaint with us. They called him the very next day, verbally apologized, offered to do a follow-up story and to run a letter to the editor from him. He really wanted a written apology ³ which he probably deserved ³ but he finally decided they had met him halfway. We think our involvement helped achieve that result.

About half of the formal complaints weÃve received we actually did not accept, because although the complainants filled out our forms, they did not fully understand our process. Either the stories did not concern them or their organizations, or they simply did not meet our guidelines. We donÃt accept trivial complaints; we donÃt want to be a nuisance to the media. Nor do we accept anonymous complaints, although some people have tried to get us to do that.

WeÃve also had dozens of inquiries over the past five years from people or corporations who wanted to know how our process works. For various reasons, they decided not to file complaints in the end. But many of them told us they were glad to have some recourse if they couldnÃt get a satisfactory response from the media.

As Stan McNaughton, one of our Founding Board members, told us: "The Washington News Council is like having a strong national defense. I hope I donÃt have to use you, but IÃm glad youÃre there if I ever do."

And now Wes Uhlman will tell you about our Public Forums. Wes?

The News Council has sponsored or co-sponsored 7 public forums where we convened panels of journalists and citizens to talk about media coverage and invited the public to participate in the discussion. We held a forum on the news media and school violence just 3 weeks after the Columbine shootings in Colorado. We had journalists, police, teachers and parents on our panel, and many students in the audience. It was a very constructive discussion. The forum was broadcast statewide on TVW.

We did a panel on media coverage of the Mardi Gras riots in Pioneer Square that drew almost 200 people to Town Hall. Our panel included Ken Bunting of the P-I, Pat Costello of KING-TV, Dave Ross of KIRO radio, John Carlson of KVI radio, Rev. Leslie Braxton of Mount Zion Baptist Church, and James Kelly of the Urban League. It was moderated by Enrique Cerna of KCTS-9. Many people told us afterward it was the most honest, frank and candid discussion of how the news media covered those tragic events that they had ever heard. Both sides went away with a greater understanding of how the media do their jobs and what impact that has on the community ³ which was precisely our goal.

With the help of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, we hosted two respected journalists from the Project for Excellence in Journalism to talk about their new book, "The Elements of Journalism." Ken Bunting moderated that discussion. To begin the program, we presented the findings of a statewide survey that the News Council co-sponsored with the Evans School at the University of Washington on "Citizen Views of Local News Media." Stuart Elway conducted the survey and it had some fascinating results.

For instance, 2 out of 3 people agreed that they had "become more skeptical about the factual accuracy of things I hear or read in the news." Nine out of 10 agreed that "news organizations too often sensationalize news stories just to sell more papers or attracts more viewers and listeners." And 9 out of 10 agreed that "the job of a news organization is to get the facts right, not to interpret those facts." Although several national polls have had similar results, this was the first such survey that had focused exclusively on Washington state. (Complete results are on our website, and also we have printed copies available on request.)

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, we have sponsored or co-sponsored three forums on how the news media cover the war on terrorism. These were all terrific discussions that brought together journalists, elected officials, military people and citizen activists. The first was held on Oct. 1, 2001 ³ only 20 days after the planes hit the twin towers. That panel included Joel Connelly of the P-I, Don Porter of KING-TV, Senator Slade Gorton, and Gen. James Hill, commanding general at Fort Lewis and a veteran of Desert Storm. It was a wide open, gloves-off discussion of the mediaÃs role during wartime.

Over the past two years, we co-sponsored two more forums on terrorism and the war in Iraq ³ one with the World Affairs Council, and one with a citizensà group that grew out of the Potlucks for Peace program. These were bipartisan, balanced, extremely thoughtful discussions that were candid but always civil. Again, we think that all sides benefit from this kind of open debate about the mediaÃs rights and responsibilities.

Next spring we will co-sponsor a month-long series of forums together with the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council on the topic: "Breaking News: The State of TodayÃs Information Media." The keynote speaker will be James Fallows, senior editor of The Atlantic Monthly and author of many articles and several books about the media. The Bainbridge Council asked us for help in suggesting topics and panelists, and weÃve been working closely with them for the past few months. Several Washington News Council members ³ including Larry Cali, Cyrus Krohn, Margo Gordon, Cliff Rowe, and John Hamer will be on panels or act as moderators. We will also lead a Student Mock News Council hearing at Bainbridge High School as part of the program. Watch our website for more details.

Do these forums do any good, or are they just more typical Seattle talk fests? Well, we think they do a lot of good. One reason the News Council was created was to help people better understand the news media and learn more about how decisions get made in the newsroom. Many citizens are intimidated by the media and are afraid to approach newspapers or broadcast stations. Far too many people have become skeptical or even cynical about the media. They donÃt think their phone calls or emails will be answered, so they donÃt bother to make them. Many people donÃt read a local newspaper anymore, donÃt watch local television news, and donÃt even listen to radio news. We think thatÃs too bad. Part of our mission is to "provide a forum where citizens and journalists can engage each other in discussing standards of media ethics and performance." Our forums do exactly that ³ and both sides benefit as a result.

We plan sponsor more forums, perhaps quarterly, where we bring together journalists and citizens to talk about media performance and news coverage. The more we understand each other, the better for everyone.

And now John Hamer will tell you about our Educational Programs. John?

The News Council has always placed education high on its priority list. We have now held 14 Student Mock News Council hearings involving high-school and college journalism students statewide. WeÃve done 3 at the University of Washington, 4 at Washington State University, 2 at Pacific Lutheran University, and one each at Seattle University, Everett Community College, Gonzaga University, Whitworth College, and Central Washington University.

In our first couple of years, we used cases from the Minnesota News Council, which is our model. Their Council was established in 1970, and has been very helpful to us from the beginning. They loaned us cases that their Council has decided in the past. In the last couple of years, we have started using our own cases. We give the students the original stories and the text of the complaint. Sometimes students play the roles of the editor and the complainant. Other students play the role of the News Council and vote on whether the stories were fair, accurate and balanced ³ or not. In most cases, the students have voted exactly the same way as the actual News Councils in Minnesota or here voted. But as these fledgling young journalists look at the stories and consider the ethical issues involved, you can see their eyes and minds open up as they realize the immense power that the press has ³ and start to think about the awesome responsibility that journalists have to get the story right.

We also, in our very first year, established the Dick Larsen Scholarships, named after my former Seattle Times colleague who was probably the most respected political reporter this state has ever had. We set up the scholarship when Dick was still alive, and he helped us decide the criteria and helped select the first yearÃs winner. Since Dick died, we have awarded 6 more scholarships in his name. We now give 2 each year. One goes to a graduating high-school senior, and the other to a college undergraduate, who are planning careers in communications. We interpret that broadly, because as you recall, Dick was not only a writer and editor at The Seattle Times, but he also was Tom FoleyÃs first administrative assistant, and later Jennifer DunnÃs state director, and also at one point a public-affairs consultant with Gogerty and Stark. He even drew cartoons and illustrations. So our scholarship winners cover the spectrum.

Among our recent winners are: 1) a young woman from White Center who is an immigrant from Eritrea. She writes for The Seattle Timesà Sunday NEXT section and is now a freshman at Western Washington University; 2) a young man who is captain of the PLU basketball team and hopes to be a sports writer covering the Sonics someday; 3) a young woman who wants to be a TV anchor and is studying broadcast journalism at the Murrow School at WSU; 4) a young man who was the Seattle P-IÃs political intern in Olympia during the last legislative session. They are a terrific group of young people and we think Dick Larsen would be very proud of them. We know we are.

In addition, we speak to college and high-school journalism classes on a regular basis to tell them about the News Council and the need for good journalists who think carefully about the ethical implications of what they do. With all the scandals in journalism these days, we think it is especially important that young journalism students have this kind of exposure. We do not need more Jayson Blairs in American journalism who will do anything they can ³ including making up stories, plagiarizing from other papers, lying to their editors, and doing anything they can to get ahead or get their byline on Page One or try to win a Pulitzer Prize.

We also have had student interns at the Washington News Council every quarter, including summers, since we were founded. These students have come from the UW, WSU, PLU, and Green River Community College. We donÃt have full-time jobs for them, but they come in one or two days a week to help with various tasks. All of them have learned a lot just by being around the News Council office or coming to our forums or other events and getting to know Council members and journalists on our panels. One of our former interns is now a business section intern at The Seattle Times.

Finally, we helped write a Media Literacy Curriculum Guide in cooperation with the World Affairs Council. They asked us for help after receiving a grant from the Washington Humanities Commission. It is now being used in high-school and college classrooms statewide. We also speak regularly to community and civic groups such as Rotary, Kiwanis, Chambers of Commerce, and other professional and trade associations, to tell them about the News Council and how it works. These are part of our educational efforts. In fact, we probably spend at least a third of our time on educational and informational activities of various kinds, which was one of our original goals.

And now Bill will tell you about some of our other accomplishments. Bill?

As you can see, we think weÃve reached most of the goals we had when the News Council began five years ago. But weÃve also accomplished some other things that we hadnÃt even anticipated.

For one thing, we have maintained an absolutely first-rate group of voting members. There has inevitably been some turnover, but we have found that lots of people want to be voting members of the Council and our Board of Directors. We recently added nine new members, all listed in the new brochures that are on your tables. We chose them through a statewide nomination and application process. Anyone could apply ³ all we asked was a brief statement on why they wanted to join the Council, plus a current resume. We got more applicants than we had room for. Right now we have a waiting list of people who would like to join the Council when we have future openings. If any of you are interested, let us know! We have 12 Media Members, who have spent some part of their career working in the media, and 12 Public Members, who come from a wide range of backgrounds but have never been journalists.

WeÃve had a very diverse mix, which again is part of the CouncilÃs strength. Our newest Media Members include current working journalists such as the editor of the Federal Way Mirror and a staff writer for The Stranger, and former journalists such as Barry Mitzman, who was at Channel 9 -- and now helps write my sonÃs speeches at Microsoft! Among our new Public Members are Tom Downey, Vice President of Communications at Boeing Commercial Airplanes. WeÃve also added a doctor, a lawyer, and an American Indian. TheyÃre a great group. The News Council has always tried hard to maintain professional, ethnic, and ideological diversity ³ and weÃve succeeded. Our members may not agree with each other on politics or other issues, but they all agree that accurate, fair and balanced news media are absolutely critical to our democracy.

ThereÃs another thing weÃve accomplished that wasnÃt part of our original plan. We have created a new institution in Seattle: the annual Gridiron West Dinner. Invitations are on your tables. Some of you may have received them in the mail. We hope youÃll all join us on Nov. 7.

This is our 5^th Annual Gridiron Dinner, and it has become a not-to-be-missed event. We honor journalists, elected officials and civic leaders in an evening of affectionate "toasts," comedy and songs.

The first year, in 1999, we "toasted" four veteran political reporters ³ Dick Larsen, Shelby Scates, Mike Layton and Adele Ferguson. The next year we honored Emmett Watson. The following year, Jean Enersen, Kathi Goertzen and Susan Hutchison. Last year, the five former Governors of Washington ³ Al Rosellini, Dan Evans, John Spellman, Booth Gardner and Mike Lowry. That was FUN!

This year we are honoring the Ellis Brothers ³ Jim and John, who I think youÃll all agree have done more over the past 50 years in terms of providing long-range vision, regional leadership and dedicated community service than any two people you can name.

In a region that prides itself on civility, we thought that the Gridiron West Dinner could play an important role. For one night, people from the media, politics, business and other sectors come together for a fun evening where we all get along. We may beat up on each other all day, but for one night we have some laughs and share a bottle or two of wine and recognize that we can disagree without being disagreeable. The most important thing is to be in the arena. We honor those who are by giving them a few pies in the face ³ figuratively speaking, of course!

ThatÃs a lot of accomplishments for just five years, and weÃve done it on a tight budget with a small staff and low overhead. Our office is a third-floor walkup above the Pyramid Alehouse across from Safeco Field. Drop by for a visit sometime!

Is there anything more weÃd like to accomplish? Of course. We need a higher profile throughout the state because many citizens still have never heard of the Washington News Council. We need a more stable financial base and a broader range of donors, so we can concentrate on the substance of the News CouncilÃs mission, not on fund-raising.

We believe our mission is important. We believe that the news media play a vital role, but we think they need some help. WeÃre here to help. WeÃre a little puzzled by the mediaÃs reluctance to work with us.

We would welcome more support from the media statewide. We do have some support ³ Peter Horvitz of the King County Journal has been helpful from the beginning. We have had excellent Media Members all along, including current working journalists ³ but weÃd like more. WeÃre starting to get some interesting referrals ³ we recently had a phone call from a potential complainant. We asked how she had heard about the News Council. It turns out that a reporter from KIRO-TV News had told her about us ³ even though KIRO was the subject of our latest complaint!

But in truth, most of the major media leaders in this state ³ at least the top management ³ owners, publishers, editors, station managers and news directors ³ still seem skeptical of the News Council. Five years ago, we invited them to join our effort ³ but most of them said they wanted to watch us for awhile. TheyÃre still watching. We get the feeling that many of them are hoping that if they ignore us, weÃll eventually go away. Some actively oppose us, some just passively. They cite several arguments: They say weÃre a solution in search of a problem. They insist they can handle any complaints internally. They say weÃre a self-appointed group of busybodies. They say some of us have axes to grind against the media. They say our executive director is too biased to do the job.

Well, after 5 years, all of their arguments have proved untrue. The news media have serious problems in terms of public trust and credibility ³ as all the public opinion surveys show ³ and the News Council is part of the solution. We help encourage openness and accountability, which is just what the public wants. The media clearly canÃt handle complaints by themselves. They wouldnÃt let any other profession get away with that. Complainants who have come to the News Council will testify that they simply didnÃt get satisfactory answers when they called the reporters or editors. As for being self-appointed, DeTocqueville said that one of the great things about America is that when citizens see a problem, they form a committee to address it! ThatÃs exactly what weÃve done, and we now select our members through a statewide application process. Ax grinders? No one can point to a single News Council case where individual members have allowed their personal experiences with the news media to affect their decisions. If any members have a conflict of interest over a complaint, they can recuse themselves from voting. And some have.

As for our executive director, I would like to assure you that John Hamer has performed superbly in that role. He has been completely fair, thoroughly professional, and absolutely unbiased in this job. All of our Council/Board members ³ current and former, left, right and center ³ have full faith and confidence in his ability to direct the News Council on a straight and true course. He may have strong personal opinions. We all do. He may have spent a few years as a conservative media critic, but no one can cite any instances where JohnÃs personal views have affected his job performance at the News Council. And remember, John does not have a vote at our hearings.

So, our opponents in the news media have run out of arguments. Now itÃs time to ask them: What are they afraid of? Why wonÃt they stand by their stories in public? We provide an opportunity for them to explain themselves, and to help their readers, viewers and listeners understand how they make decisions. Why donÃt media leaders get involved with the News Council and help make it work even better? If they did, we think that the publicÃs opinion of them would improve significantly. In fact, they should make support for the News Council part of their marketing programs! Citizens love the idea. We know the media industry is having a tough time these days, and weÃre looking for ways that we can help. We think our informal mediation process holds a great deal of promise, for instance. Our door is always open. We welcome their involvement.

But with or without media participation, we believe the News Council provides an invaluable service ³ so we plan to keep providing it. We have helped improve public understanding of the media and its vital role in our democratic system. We have reached out to hundreds of journalism students and helped them think about the great power and great responsibilities of the press. And for some individuals and organizations who were unable to resolve their complaints with the media, we have given them their "day in court" if you will ³ although we generally try to avoid legal terms. To a few complainants, we have literally "given them their reputations back" ³ and those are their words, not ours. How do you put a price on that?

Thank you for your invitation and for your attention. Now weÃd be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.