Comments on: Dean Lavine controversy a “crisis,” some Medill faculty say

By: Asha Toulmin

Asha Toulmin — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:35:14 +0000

I do not think the point of this article is to inform the reader about what the actual controversy is but is presenting more recent developments about what has happened.

One advantage of online journalism is that you can link to different items from the background of the story instead of using up space to go into the whole background. This piece links directly to the daily article which as you say, did describe the situation in a complete manner, so if the reader has questions about the original incident they can click on it and read.

By: sparrow

sparrow — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:21:34 +0000

This article fails to inform the reader about what the actual controversy is specifically about. We all know that he used anonymous quotes and that some faculty members signed a statement calling him out on this, but what exactly did the quotes entail? I have to say that the Daily covered this story with a greater sense of professionalism and accuracy.

By: Evan

Evan — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 06:33:45 +0000

I agree with Alex, well said. Kudos to the faculty who signed the statement for standing up for ethical journalism and defending the reputation of Medill.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 05:48:45 +0000

I’m surprised at Michele Weldon’s defense of the dean. If she “warns her students to remain transparent,” why shouldn’t she expect the same of her boss? If the job of media is to “afflict the comfortable,” why does she feel media coverage has been unfair?

Most telling to me throughout all of this is the dean’s silence on the issue — I emailed him directly and he still has not responded. He owes nothing to the “witch hunting” journalists nor to the staff he oversees, but as my tuition pays his salary, he owes me — and all my fellow students — a legitimate explanation.