Chicago Reader: Medill Faculty Doesn't Take a Stand

The Chicago Reader's Michael Miner today reported on a series of resolutions that were voted on by the Medill faculty. Miner called the resolutions an exercise of the faculty spinning its wheels.

Miner also reports on communication between Medill Professor David Protess and NU Provost Daniel Linzer regarding the legitimacy of Linzer's investigation.

See the full story here. 

NEW: FREE PIZZA AND TALK WITH DEAN LAVINE

What: The Undergraduate Student Advisory Council and JournalistsSpeak.blogspot.com will host a planning session with Dean Lavine to look at issues of transparency and accountability – unnamed sources, trust in media, news and advertising relationship, etc.

There will also be a chance to ask the dean questions.

The point of the meeting will be to figure out what topics beyond these should be part of a quarter-long focus to learn and to improve what Medill can do in class, in our publications and in how each of us practices journalism. Be prepared to add your ideas for what should happen in Spring quarter.

Where: McCormick Tribune Forum Room
When: Wednesday, March 12
Time: 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Come for the Free Pizza. Stay because you care about journalism.

Zorn: Questions Growing, Not Going Away

The Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn today wrote that inadequacies in the investigation into the veracity of the Dean's unattributed quotations are creating more questions, rather than allaying concerns of fabrication:

See the full article.

Daily: 'Similar' Not Good Enough

The Editorial Board at the Daily Northwestern published an Editorial in today's issue of the Daily Northwestern calling the Provost's investigation inadequate:

"For journalists, similar is not good enough. There is no point in tape recording and note-taking if a journalist can remember the basic idea from a source and present it as verbatim speech. Those working in public relations can tweak statements in order to prevent their bosses from sounding unintelligent, but reporters cannot rewrite quotes at leisure. If a person doesn't say a particular statement, it does not belong within quotation marks."

See the full opinion here.

Tribune editor: Investigation a 'bunch of spin'

Tribune editor Margaret O'Brien (Medill MSJ '99) and member of the "Save Journalism" Facebook group criticized the Provost's investigation of alleged ethics violations by the Dean in a comment posted this weekend on the group's wall. (JS.blogspot.com contacted O'Brien to authenticate her statement and publish it with her permission):

The provost's letter reminded me of the Washington Post reporter who had to give up her Pulitzer in the 80s after it was discovered the kid Jimmy in her story was a "composite" gleaned from other research. The difference is Ben Bradlee offered a humble apology while the super-resumed committee found enough to make a similar composite and said that was good enough.

I'm disappointed, mostly in the process. They owed a bunch of journalists a better investigation. Not a bunch of spin.