July 6, 2026 – for immediate release
The National NewsMedia Council (NNC) has dismissed a complaint about the accuracy of an August 7, 2025 news article published by the Welland Tribune.
The article focused on a court proceeding where the Crown agreed to stay a criminal charge against a local resident after they agreed to enter into a peace bond.
Steven Soos filed a complaint with the NNC, stating the article contained “misleading misinformation” about the charges. He also stated in his complaint that the news organization was “politically targeting me on behalf of Welland Council”.
The news organization responded to the complainant’s concerns by stating the story was accurate. The news organization also stated it had offered the complainant an opportunity to provide additional documentation that may refute, or contradict, any details that were published. The complainant did not respond to that offer.
The NNC contacted the complainant to better identify specific statements they felt were inaccurate and/or violated journalistic standards. The complainant reiterated that the news organization was spreading “false misinformation”.
In reviewing this complaint, the NNC considered widely-accepted journalistic standards about accuracy and best practices involving the reporting of matters involving the courts.
The NNC has a mandate to deal with specific complaints about published news or opinion articles. In this case, however, the complainant provided Council with only general disagreement with the coverage. They did not provide specific evidence or identify specific statements they believed contained factual errors or breached journalistic standards.
Council understands that the complainant was upset about having details of their court case covered by a local news organization. At the same time, however, Council notes the news story is based on information gathered from court records. Canada has an open court system, and this is an important part of having public transparency and accountability in judicial proceedings.
Council also noted how the news article described the complainant’s previous efforts to seek elected office. Given this fact, journalistic standards support the view that public figures should expect deeper scrutiny of their lives. In this case, the news organization exercised their editorial judgement to cover a topic that it deemed relevant to its readers and the community.
While the NNC understands the publication of the court proceedings may be unwelcome, there is no evidence to indicate the news organization erred in their original reporting. For the reasons outlined above, the NNC did not find grounds to support a complaint about a breach of journalistic standards and dismissed the matter.