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[Robb Leer] There was a

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story last spring,

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a five-part series

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"A Matter of Dignity"

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in the Star Tribune.

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How many read it or saw it?

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[Applause]

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This was the good work

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of Chris, and it...

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well, I’m going to

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have Chris explain about...

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a little bit about the

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reaction that this work received,

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and how to this day

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stories that you're reporting

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are now finding itself

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above the fold

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as opposed to buried in the paper,

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when Mac was there,

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and why editors are now taking

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all this a little more serious.

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No, but seriously, the feedback

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that you received from this series,

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if you could

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communicate a little bit

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to this group here today.

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[Chris Serres] Early last year

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we wanted to better

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understand the lives of

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people with disabilities

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in light of this

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monumental court case

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known as the Jensen case,

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which had exposed

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all kinds of problems

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within group homes

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within Minnesota.

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So initially we

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decided we wanted to

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focus on group homes

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and the conditions

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in group homes.

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And as went out

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to meet with people

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and get to know them,

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and try to immerse ourselves

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in their lives, we realized

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we had a much bigger story.

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And so we decided

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to write something more in-depth,

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not just about the facilities

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but also about people's lives.

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What we're really trying to do

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as reporters, is we're trying to

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understand how people live.

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That's our baseline.

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We're trying to understand

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how people live.

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At least from my perspective,

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we're only interested in

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stories that pertain to

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people's existential situation.

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Anything that affects it,

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anything that is a barrier,

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that's what we're interested in.

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And as we set out

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across Minnesota,

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we came across

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all kinds of incidences where

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people weren't able to achieve

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their dreams and their ambitions.

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They weren't able to

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actualize themselves.

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And that really affected us

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on a personal level,

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and so we wanted to tell that story,

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and we wanted to tell it

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in a way that put the person first,

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that tried to get at

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the level of how people live

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their daily lives and not

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tell it from the point of view

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of our leaders or policy wonks.

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We really wanted

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to get beyond that.

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So that's really what came about

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and that's what led

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to the series, and it was...

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as you probably noticed, it was

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very much focused on segregation

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and the Olmstead decision,

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which I assume everyone

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here is familiar with.

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But if you're not,

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I would encourage you to go

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and read that decision from 1999,

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which specifically lays out that,

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for people with disabilities,

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living in the most integrated

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setting possible

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is not just a voluntary thing,

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it is a requirement under the law.

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So as we went into the series,

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we took that as our frame

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of reference,

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that 1999 decision is the law.

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So wherever we are straying

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straying from that,

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we are violating the law.

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So it's really important

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to keep that in mind.

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[Rob Leer] As the reaction

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of the series and

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the letters that came

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into the newspaper

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has impacted how those stories

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are today placed in the newspaper...

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How many remember the

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photo of the first series,

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the first photo that ran?

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How many responded to that

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photo and didn’t like it?

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Thought it was unfair,

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thought it was insensitive?

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That's what reporting is.

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The good, the bad.

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You're trying to

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strike the balance.

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And so what we hope that

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we can talk about here today

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is to try to get to

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that balancing point,

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and to make... you know,

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ask the questions to these reporters

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that are going to have a

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better understanding of how

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this dialogue works.