Northwestern journalism dean faces scandal over fake sources

Hayley Tsukayama News Editor

Sixteen current and former faculty members at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism have demanded that Dean of Medill John Lavine explain his decision to use anonymous quotes in his column for the school’s alumnae/i magazine, <i>Medill</i>.

In the Spring 2007 issue, Lavine used two anonymous student quotes—both praising a Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) course—and gave no reason for granting the sources anonymity. David Spett, a Northwestern senior and columnist for <i>The Daily Northwestern</i>, raised questions about the piece in his own Feb. 11 column.

The Medill School, which consistently produces some of the nation’s top journalists, maintains strict ethical standards on anonymous sourcing. Anonymous sources often erode an article’s credibility, and students are discouraged from utilizing this tactic. According to Spett, Medill teaches students to use anonymous sources only “when you have to protect the source and publishing the information is in the best interest of the public.”

Neither condition applied in this case. “I’d be happy to tell someone about my favorite class and put my name down next to it,” Spett said.

There was another problem with the quotes. “The phrasing struck me as odd,” Spett wrote in his Feb. 11 column. One quote, which read, “I sure felt good about this class,” sounded suspiciously like Lavine’s own colloquial speech.

Spett contacted all 29 of the students in the class to verify the quotes. The students told Spett that Lavine “had visited the class, a couple people talked to him, a couple people said that they had liked the class, but no one said that.”

When Spett asked Lavine to produce his sources, Lavine said that the interviews were conducted via e-mail and had been deleted. Lavine also told Spett that, in a letter format, “The point was not in this instance that you said it, or she said it, or someone else said it...The point was, this is an opinion, these are feedback I got.”

Though Lavine later recanted this position and said all pieces should be held to the same standards, he denied fabricating the quotes in a Feb. 15 letter to the faculty.

Lavine, whose 3.5-year term was extended indefinitely this January, has been a controversial figure since his 2006 appointment. His many divisive proposals, most notably to integrate more IMC classes into the general journalism curriculum, been unpopular with Northwestern students, faculty and alumnae/i.

The Feb. 22 petition asked Lavine to produce his notes and added that “It would be unconscionable to maintain faculty silence” on the issue.

Northwestern University has not released any statement on Lavine’s future at the school.