The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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  • Joe Spear

    Joe Spear

June 30, 2012

Spear: Public affairs journalism works

By Joe Spear The Free Press

— Someday when I’m a geezer at the nursing home, I hope to have enough of my mind left to remember last week.

That’s when the governor of Minnesota came to Mankato and announced the most dangerous and deadly part of Highway 14 would be expanded from two lanes to four and be made much safer in the process.

It doesn’t sound like a lifelong memory one would want to savor. Road construction can be pretty boring. But this was a community effort that I was a part of that truly made a difference in people’s lives.

And it’s an answer to so many cynics who claim newspapers and journalism are irrelevant.

Residents knew Highway 14 had a horrendous safety record, but much of the information was anecdotal. MnDOT didn’t plan to address the highway’s improvement for 20 years or more.

That’s when the public took notice and so too did The Free Press. Reporter Mark Fischenich and Free Press editors produced an in-depth, three-day report in 2010 that detailed Highway 14’s safety record and compared it to other similar highways. The report determined the highway had a fatality rate twice the state average.

The series generated new momentum. The Free Press editorial board produced editorials urging state lawmakers, the governor and MnDOT to take action. MnDOT responded by taking another look at the highway’s safety record and determined it was even worse than previously thought.

The governor, in a meeting with The Free Press editorial board, said he would take another hard look at the problem. Legislators who met with members of The Free Press editorial board also agreed to push for a solution.

When MnDOT suggested a widening two-lane option, local officials, local lawmakers and The Free Press urged the four-lane option instead. And to the credit of the governor and MnDOT, they came up with a plan that made the four-lane a reality.

We alone can not take all the credit for this success. Congressman Tim Walz met with the governor on the project as did local legislators. People like Mankato City Council President Mike Laven and the Highway 14 Partnership have been testifying and pushing for years to get this done.

It was a community effort that shows newspapers are far from irrelevant, elected leaders are far from detached and self-interested, and people are far from powerless to bring about change in their government.



Joe Spear is editor of The Free Press. Contact him at jspear@mankatofreepress.com or 344-6382.

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