MINNEAPOLIS - Gary Gilson, Executive Director of the Minnesota News Council for 14 years, will retire effective December 1, 2006.

The Minnesota News Council was created in 1970 to promote fair, vigorous and trusted journalism. It presents complaints about accuracy and fairness to news organizations, holds public hearings to consider unresolved complaints, and conducts public forums aimed at fostering trust in journalism.

Gilson joined the Minnesota News Council in 1992 as its Executive Director. During his years of service with the non-profit organization, the News Council experienced unparalleled growth in public recognition of its mission and in development of financial resources to support its programs through annual donations from news organizations, businesses, foundations and the public.

He joined the News Council with 31 years experience as a print and broadcast journalist, starting at the Minneapolis Star. He moved on to television in New York and Los Angeles, where his work in magazine broadcasts and documentaries earned him five Emmy awards. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and has taught at Columbia, Yale, the Universities of Minnesota and St. Thomas, Macalester College and Colorado College. At Columbia, he directed the faculty of the Summer Program in Broadcast Journalism for Members of Minority Groups, one of the nation’s most successful job-training and -placement efforts in any industry.

In serving as the public spokesperson for the Minnesota News Council, Gilson is widely recognized for engaging the news media in discussions of ethical issues. He created "Newsworthy," a TV interview program that has aired regularly on public television. When broad issues of journalistic ethics were raised as public issues, Gilson sought out interested parties and journalists to discuss standards at News Council public forums.

Last January the Minnesota Newspaper Association expressed its confidence in the News Council by giving Gilson its highest honor, the Distinguished Service to Journalism Award. He has conducted seminars on ethics, reporting and writing for newspapers and broadcasters across the nation. He plans to continue coaching news people, to speak on journalism issues and to pursue his own writing.

During his tenure, he led the organization through a restructuring of its governance, resulting in the formation of a new Board of Directors to oversee the News Council’s finances and administration and to support the role of a separate News Council hearing body, which conducts public hearings on unresolved complaints. The hearing body is divided evenly between journalists and public members. Its decisions, while not binding on the parties, are made public. Half the complaints heard since 1971 have been upheld and half denied.

Gilson also has been instrumental in the recent creation of two news councils, in Southern California and New England. He said, "A new spirit of openness is spreading through the news media, and it promises to increase public trust. Almost all news organizations in Minnesota see the value of participating in the News Council’s programs, from public hearings on unresolved complaints to public forums. Our work tends to influence journalism for the better and to instruct the public on the vital role of a free press in a democracy."

John Finnegan, chairman of the Minnesota News Council Board of Directors said, "Gary Gilson has been an articulate and very effective voice for the mission of this organization. His passion for the cause of ethics in journalism has been witnessed here and nationally. Gary Gilson is Mr. News Council. In the years ahead, the organization will be pleased to have access to his expertise as Executive Director Emeritus of this organization."

Finnegan said the Board of Directors has developed a six-month transition plan leading to the selection of Gilson’s successor. He said an Interim Director will be named to lead the organization effective December 1, with the objective of moving forward with current program initiatives and positioning the organization for its new permanent leader.