This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It's time to clarify a television ad by Doug Owens' campaign that implies an allegation against Rep. Mia Love was first published in The Salt Lake Tribune.
The particular allegation in question never ran in this newspaper.
The Tribune contacted the Owens team when the ad first appeared about the incorrect sourcing, and I talked to Owens' campaign spokesman Taylor Morgan just before I left for vacation Oct. 13. The campaign changed the spot.
The problem is the old TV ad continued to run on some stations.
It's confusing because the original ad listed three sentences, two of which came from my columns. Those allegations are that Love ignored veterans and snubbed a group of senior citizens who had trekked to Washington, D.C., as part of a University of Utah continuing-education class.
Both those columns included explanations from Love or her staff disputing the interpretations of the accusers.
The third allegation was related to the column I wrote about the seniors, but it never ran in The Tribune because I couldn't verify that element.
The source of that column was a letter to the editor sent to the paper by Joan Rawlins, who was one of the students in the group.
She copied the letter to me as well.
I called Rawlins, who reiterated her assertions, and I talked to others on the trip.
I also received an explanation from Love's chief of staff, Muffy Day, who said the group had been told in advance that the first-term congresswoman was on a tight schedule. Day said the students met with Love staffers instead and seemed satisfied.
The allegation in question was included in Rawlins' letter, but Rawlins told me she did not personally witness the incident. I couldn't verify it independently so I left that part out, and The Tribune never published Rawlins' letter.
The original ad printed the allegation in Rawlins' letter that I couldn't verify and that Love's aides insist they can show isn't true — namely that the congresswoman was seen "ducking into a small office" at the same time her staff said she was on a plane — and listed the source as "Letter from Joan Rawlins; Salt Lake Tribune."
I returned from vacation Monday and learned the original ad had still been running as late as last weekend.
I called the Owens campaign and was assured the new spot, which appropriately listed the source for that unverified allegation as "Letter from Joan Rawlins, Taylorsville," had been released Oct. 13.
"We followed standard practice in the original citation," said Morgan. "Out of respect for The Salt Lake Tribune, we updated the citation at their request. We're looking into which version aired over the weekend."
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Incomplete pass? • Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin is either tied or leading in Utah, according to some polls, largely because of his touting his Mormon and conservative roots.
So when Brigham Young University's football team played at Boise State last Thursday, the McMullin campaign sent out an email to supporters encouraging them to stand outside the parking lot at a Mormon meetinghouse in Boise before the game and hand out McMullin fliers to BYU fans going to a pregame party there hosted by the BYU Alumni Association.
The tailgate event cost $5 to attend and included dinner.
The email suggested McMullin backers could remain outside the parking lot and hand out their literature to avoid having to pay for the dinner.
Alas, there was no gain.
Cara Larsen, who sent the email on behalf of the McMullin campaign, said she alone showed up to hand out fliers, which contained information about McMullin on one side and the BYU roster on the other.
"I was there," she said. "I was able to hand out some fliers. But I was the only one."