Some students and faculty members said they were not satisfied.
Protess, who helped write a faculty letter issued Feb. 19, called the committee's conclusions "inaccurate."
"I am not alleging that the dean fabricated quotes," Protess said. "I am alleging that it is inaccurate to say there is no evidence that he did not fabricate quotes."
Protess said he had contacted the five juniors, all of whom said the provost's office did not interview them during its inquiry.
"I think it's also fair to say that if there is one thing I have learned in more than two decades of teaching and practicing investigative reporting, it is that you will not find reliable evidence if you do not look in the right places," he said.
He challenged the statement's claim that "the quotes were consistent with sentiment students expressed about the course."
"It is a hard and fast rule in journalism that when quotation marks are used, they should reflect what a source actually said, not merely their quote-unquote 'sentiments,'" Protess said. "If simply capturing the mood of unnamed sources is good enough to be used in quotation marks, then our standards as a journalism school are slipping."
Four Medill students who created a blog about the controversy are sponsoring a forum March 11 to discuss the ethical issues raised by Lavine's use of anonymous quotes. They also circulated a petition among students and alumni, delivering it to Lavine, Linzer and President Henry Bienen last week with 240 signatures.
"Some of the people that signed the petition, the statement, are not satisfied with (Linzer's statement)," said Medill senior Aaron Gannon, who helped write the petition. "That's what they have told us. They are wondering what kind of precedent this sets for the journalism code of ethics."
The forum will go forward, and Lavine will probably attend, he said.
"We think that there is more room for discussion, and that's why we're having this forum," Gannon said. "People want to talk about it."
The provost's office did not return repeated calls seeking comment Friday afternoon.
Amanda Palleschi contributed reporting.
libbynelson@northwestern.edu
2008 Woodie Awards
The DAILY encourages you to share your thoughts on this story. Please help us keep the discussion lively, but civil. Comments that are abusive to others, off-topic or vulgar, or comments that misrepresent someone's identity, will not be tolerated. We reserve the right to delete any comments in violation or to close comment threads on articles.
Please e-mail online@dailynorthwestern.com to flag a comment or for more information.
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 7
Michael Davies
posted 3/03/08 @ 7:48 AM CST
As a graduate of Medill way back in the 1960s and as a former editor and publisher of major daily newspapers, I would hope some of the NU students would spend as much time learning the English language as they apparently are in investigating the dean. (Continued…)
Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune
posted 3/03/08 @ 8:32 AM CST
Michael Davies writes, "Fabricating quotes is a deadly sin; so is bad language use."
The attempt to compare, much less equate, a minor lapse in grammar in a spoken assessment of a situation -- saying "that" when the rules call for "who" -- with fabricating quotes and apparently inventing sources is breathtaking. (Continued…)
Robert Pruter
posted 3/03/08 @ 8:58 AM CST
This is a good, but not perfect example of what journalists call a "whitewash." Medill students should examine the Provost report as a "whitewash" case study. (Continued…)
Sergio Serritella
posted 3/03/08 @ 10:12 AM CST
Issuing a statement of this importance without attribution parallels the problem that led to this calamity in the first place.
NU stakeholders deserve full disclosure about conflicts of interest within the ad hoc committee and to know who they interviewed, on what documents they relied and the grounds for their conclusions. (Continued…)
Medillalum
posted 3/03/08 @ 11:37 AM CST
The Chicago Reader has reported that one panel member has a serious conflict of interest, in terms of his family's relationship with the dean. Medill trained us well back in the day. (Continued…)
Anon
posted 3/03/08 @ 12:29 PM CST
This is disgusting. I'm embarrassed to call Medillalma mater.
Post a Comment