Northwestern Journalism dean taken to task

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Journalists love to debate the use of anonymous sources, but the discussion this week at Northwestern University's journalism school is no hypothetical: The texts are published columns by the controversial dean of the school, John Lavine.

Earlier this week, a columnist for The Daily Northwestern, a student newspaper, questioned the use of anonymous quotes in two introductory letters Lavine wrote last year for the Medill alumni magazine.

"I sure felt good about this class. It is one of the best I've taken," reads part of one quotation, which, Lavine wrote, "a Medill junior told me."

The unnamed student appears to be talking about a class in which students developed "a fully integrated marketing program," an emphasis that Lavine has promoted over the protest of some alumni and students.

In the same piece, Lavine quotes "one sophomore" who glowingly praises a new reporting program, concluding, "This is the most exciting my education has been."

At Medill, one of the country's premier journalism schools, training in the careful use of unnamed sources is emphasized.

Professors routinely require students to submit names and contact information for every person quoted in their articles as a guard against fabrication.

So Lavine's use of anonymous quotes raised the suspicions of David Spett, a Medill senior and Daily Northwestern columnist.

Spett figured out the marketing class Lavine was discussing, he said Wednesday, and then tracked down all 29 students. He quizzed each one about the "I sure felt good" quotation, but each of them denied saying it, according to his column.

Lavine, 67, told the Tribune on Wednesday that the quotes "came from real people," though he couldn't recall whether they were provided by e-mail or during face-to-face conversations.

He defended his use of anonymous quotes by drawing a distinction between a news story and a "letter" to alumni in a magazine.

"Context is all-important. I wasn't doing a news story. I wasn't covering the news," Lavine said. "When I write news stories, I am as careful and thorough about sources as anyone you will find. ... This is not a news story. This is a personal letter."

Lavine said he takes notes in a reporter's notebook when he meets with students and also receives student feedback by e-mail, but he said he couldn't provide the e-mails because they had been deleted.

Great moments in Big Education.