Dakota Dunes newspaper, Republican Party feud over mailer

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NORTH SIOUX CITY (AP) — The publisher of a newspaper in southeastern South Dakota is at odds with the local Republican Party over an election mailer the publisher says caused confusion the day before the general election.

The Union County Republican Party released a mailer Monday that supported several candidates. The mailer was called the Lincoln Union County Times, and it featured a nameplate with a design and font similar to the Dakota Dunes/North Sioux City Times, according to the media.

Bruce Odson, publisher of the Dakota Dunes/North Sioux City Times, said he received many calls from subscribers wondering if the mailer was an endorsement of candidates by his paper.

"The comments that we received from many people was that there was mass confusion," he said. "We got calls saying, 'I can't believe you did that,' and I explained it wasn't us."

Odson's paper published a story on the front page of its Wednesday edition about the dispute.

"One, we don't endorse candidates. Two, we're fair, and third, we thought this infringes upon copyright or brand," Odson said. "I assume they knew that they were creating that confusion when they were sending it out."

Union County Republican Party Chairman Dan Lederman said he had no intention of deceiving readers and doesn't think he did anything wrong.

"I think Bruce Odson thinks people are stupid, because if anybody reads the paper, they'll see the title is completely different," he said. "(The mailer) is a different name, it's free and it has a full disclaimer on it that it was paid for by the Union County Republicans."

Odson said he does not plan to take any legal action against the Union County Republican Party, but he had hoped for an apology. Lederman does not plan to oblige.

"I feel that the only apology should be to me, for insinuating that I was doing anything unethical," he said.

Tags: election 2012, news, updates, state, politics, media