Sixteen faculty members of the Medill School of Journalism, including former dean Loren Ghiglione, released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying they were "deeply troubled" by dean John Lavine's use of unattributed quotes in columns for the Medill alumni magazine.
A Feb. 11 column by Daily columnist David Spett called into question the authenticity of an anonymous quote in a column by Lavine, supposedly from a student praising a Medill advertising class.
Spett contacted all the members of that class without finding the source of the quote. The controversy attracted national attention, garnering coverage from the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, U.S. News and World Report and National Public Radio.
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The statement:
Statement from the Medill Faculty
February 19, 2008
We, the undersigned members of the faculty of the Medill School of Journalism, are deeply troubled by Dean John Lavine's use of unidentified sources in his columns for Medill, the school's alumni magazine. We also are concerned about the public questions that have arisen regarding the ethics of attribution and sourcing, and commend the Daily Northwestern and columnist David Spett for raising these issues.
Public discussion about this matter has moved beyond the issue of a quote attributed to an unidentified student to a question of the dean's veracity, specifically whether the quote at issue was fabricated. Regrettably, much of this discussion has itself been anonymous, posted on the Internet by unidentified sources, an act that if predictable is nonetheless unprofessional. We speak publicly, and on the record.
The dean could, if he wished, put an end to what has become an embarrassment to Northwestern and to Medill. We call on him to do so immediately. As the Chicago Sun-Times said in a Feb. 15 editorial, "With his and the school's integrity on the line, the easiest thing for Lavine to do now is produce his notes or have the IT department retrieve that deleted e-mail to allay concerns over whether the unattributed quote is real."
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
John N. Frank MSJ '76
posted 2/19/08 @ 3:47 PM CST
My congratulations to the faculty who signed this statement, I find it an incredibly brave step to take. I hope more faculty members who did not sign this will add their names. (Continued…)
Henry Rosoff
posted 2/19/08 @ 4:31 PM CST
I would also classify myself as ?deeply troubled? over the Dean?s misquote and subsequent attitude. The action of the Medill faculty is commendable and much appreciated. (Continued…)
Dave Keating
posted 2/19/08 @ 5:26 PM CST
A comendable and brave position by the Medill faculty. It will be interesting to see what happens next. This story seems far from finished.
Reader
posted 2/19/08 @ 6:03 PM CST
I mean, not that the Daily Northwestern is anything close to a prime example of excellent journalism or a publication without a startlingly high amount of misquotations, I am glad that they are calling out a disputed case from the Dean himself. (Continued…)
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