medill innocence project

My Medill colleague Prof. David Protess and the school as a whole is “on the case” defending itself against a seeming fishing expedition by the Cook Country State’s Attorney’s office. Student work has led to previous exoneration of falsely accused prisoners and changes in Illinois’ capital punishment rules. Now the officials seek access not only to material concerning what may be a wrongful conviction – Northwestern has turned over records relevant to the case in question  – but to all educational material – from emails to expenses –  behind the investigation, ostensibly to ensure that students were not pressured by grading considerations to develop exculpatory material.

As today’s Chicago Tribune editorial puts it: “Who’s on trial here? The prosecutors are over-reaching…”

But even as this battle is joined, it may raise issues concerning the trendy idea – held by foundations and journalists in search of a new business model – to have student reporters fill the gaps caused by the dismantling of the current news(paper) model. Can all schools provide the level of instruction and supervision that Protess does? Are administrators willing to defend against those who may be embarrassed by their findings? Who is the supervisor? And – that old warhorse – Who Is a Journalist – is a question in flux, and one that may be decided differently in different states.

www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-1021edit2oct21,0,6058327.story