Agree that the Chicago Tribune coverage recounts what happened much more clearly. For us old-school journalists, the implications of social media's impact in a more polarized and threatening society really need to be more fully studied and addressed. That said, editors I know would respond to criticisms and complaints by asking, "Is there something FACTUALLY wrong in our story? If so, we'll correct it. If you just don't like the way we covered something, then write a letter to the editor and we'll run it."
13
Medill needs to get out in front of this quickly and visibly and make crystal clear it doesn’t agree with the apology statement. The damage to the schools reputation and integrity is on the line.
6
My poor reading skills, I see that they did. Good for them, I hope his letter gets just as much attention.
3
In the category "Everything Old Is New Again," this reminds me of the late 60s when I was a college newspaper reporter/photographer and we were frequently pressured by the most radical students for not being left enough, and by the campus cops & blue-collar employees for being "Commies."
The head of the campus SDS spin-off complained constantly that I (I had the police/administration beat) was tipping off the cops to their doings (I wasn't) and one time grabbed a roll of film from me thinking it had photos of students who were occupying the university president's office on some beef. He took a blank roll.
As a retired journalist (post-college too) I say the Northeastern editor was wrong to give in & apologize for committing journalism. Imagine using a phone directory to find people who might agree (or not) to be quoted. Quite the crime!
10
That is an embarrassment to the profession to which they aspire and to the school that admitted them.
17
No one in this little escapade has any guts.
The journalism students don't have the guts to report.
The protesters don't have the guts to be noted as protesting.
Jeff Sessions doesn't have the guts to recognize that Trump did him dirty -- even in that bizarro world.
16
As a professional journalist and Medill graduate, I condemn the editorial staff for its lack of a backbone and for failing its student body by failing to uphold its journalistic duty.
16
It's unfortunate that the editor played the race/ethnicity card here. Criticism of the student newspaper's actions has zero to do with race/ethnicity.
I'm not saying that I'm on board with the Fox News perspective on campus culture in America, but something is definitely wrong here.
18
“We know we hurt students that night, especially those who identify with marginalized groups.”
Nothing more to add.
The Left, which is reflected in the above statement, is graduating students whose world outlook has been shaped by an ideology no less insidious than Maoism, Marxism, or Fascism. It's faux concern for "marginalized groups" merely covers the intent to demand total conformity from adherents, no less than a Pravda or Der Sturmer.
As an independent voter, you often leave me with a choice between a defamer of "marginalized groups," or their self-described champions.
Both choices entail a demand for blind allegiance. Both are based on fear and ignorance.
22
For better or worse, this incident illustrates the cocoon effect of being a residential student at a major university. In the world outside the campus, protesters who interrupted a guest speaker would be ejected at a minimum and possibly arrested for disturbing the peace. In the closed world of the campus, protesting students might rightly be shocked at any sanctions being imposed on them (put on academic probation, financial aid cut) for their disruptive conduct.
In my years at Northwestern long ago, there was extensive underage drinking and use of illegal recreational drugs. At some point the Evanston police department stepped in and made some arrests for drug use. I recall students’ outrage that the “real world” police had popped their bubble — even though the campus is bisected by a busy city road.
Also, only obliquely referred to in this story are the issues of the often uncomfortable position that conservative students and African American students find themselves facing on a campus that is mostly populated by affluent, white, generally liberal students. They are sometimes made to feel like outsiders and this event may have exacerbated those differences.
5
Certainly, these young journalists have an opportunity to learn from this.
However, who can really blame them for apologizing, even as journalists?
They've grown up with apologies to the "woke" crowd being the norm. Companies, politicians, entertainers, EVERYBODY apologizes these days, whether or not there's actually something to apologize for.
Let's face it: If people from a "marginalized" group say they're offended, no matter how small the "supposed transgression, the "offending" person, company, etc. WILL apologize. Easier to apologize and move on than face a potential backlash. And what is the backlash, usually. Five people on Twitter, two the next day and then everyone forgets all about it.
The very sensitive and yet-to-grow-up children who call themselves "woke" do indeed need to be treated differently. They need to be treated like adults who don't cry out about being "hurt" every time they hear a comment they don't like.
The Safe Space Era needs to come to an end.
14
“We know we hurt students that night, especially those who identify with marginalized groups.”
Hilarious
This story reads like something out of the Onion.
29
@John no one at the Onion could think up something so crazy
6
What did the reporters do wrong? I don't understand. Did the article suggest anything inappropriate? Are they really just protesting because they don't like the idea of a press taking their picture and reaching out to them via email?
14
This article leaves out that the apology letter said students found the photos of the event "retraumatizing and invasive" and student reporters reaching out to them as "an invasion of privacy." This is crazy. These kids want to control everything they're exposed to, and that is not real life. Their obsession with only listening to people who share their viewpoints is ridiculous and glaringly wrong as that is not how knowledge is attained or shared. It creates a self-congratulatory bubble of delusion and sameness. Note: not saying I like or agree with anything about Sessions, but it's called freedom of speech and freedom of the PRESS. The Daily Northwestern literally scolded itself for something so many countries in the world wish they could do but can't- document and report freely on a breaking news story.
30
Unfortunately the editor erred in constructing his response around his race. His race has (or should have) nothing to do with the basics of reporting. His response reads as if he's making it all about himself.
21
In my view, the saddest part of this story is (yet again) the race card game. The obsession with race and gender at the expense of the far more powerful socio-economic factor and the related pernicious identity politics paranoia continues to kill any intellectual discourse in academe and to deprive this nation of any meaningful change of policies.
Here is a nice quote from a Vanity Fair article which explains how the Dems use identity politics as a smokescreen to hide the fact that they are becoming the party of the top 1%:
"To their rich constituents, Democrats offer more trade, more immigration, and general globalism. To their non-rich constituents, they offer the promise of social justice, which critics might call identity politics. That’s one reason why Democrats have devoted so much attention to issues such as transgender rights, sexual assault on campus, racial disparities in criminal justice, and immigration reform. The causes may be worthy—and they attract sincere advocates—but politically they’re also useful. They don’t bother rich people."
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/04/why-democrats-are-becoming-the-party-of-the-1-percent
10
What hath political correctness wrought? Back in the lat-'60s a woman named Eva Jefferson turned a conservative, staid--and very whit--NU upside down by leading protests that led to long-overdue campus changes. The NU Daily covered Jefferson and her peers in a way that drew the attention to national press. The Medill Dean never apologized for the Daily's reporting. The campus woke up back then thanks in large part to both Jefferson and the Daily.
2
@Wink, Jr. I don’t know about the late 1960s, but for many years the Daily Northwestern has been fiercely independent of the school’s administration and faculty. Today, it is highly unlikely that a dean of the journalism school would apologize for something in the student newspaper, and certainly that dean has no power over the day-to-day content of the paper.
1
Read this article twice and still don't understand the facts of the situation.
NU newspaper covers protested public speech. Newspaper then apologizes for its coverage? Why? Still don't understand why. Or who was, presumably, pressuring them to apologize.
The NYTimes coverage here is dancing around the lede, annoyingly careful not to mischaraterize the participants. As a result the story is understood by only those who were already familiar with the nuance of the story.
21
@RR I agree with you ... the Chicago Tribune’s story fleshes out the details a little bit better.
4
@RR 1. Jeff Sessions is conservative. For them this means he is automatically a racist etc. To them, it doesn't matter what one says or does; if the person is not in their collective & does not use their dogma 100%, they are to be excommunicated as blasphemers. Therefore, Jeff Sessions is to be excommunicated.
2. Yet he was invited to speak at NU.
3. They protested this horrific intrusion into their sacrosanct collective.
4. But the Evil Forces out there - they see things in terms of comic book Good & Evil; they are Good; anyone who doesn't subscribe to their dogma is Evil - intruded into their Safe Sanctuary anyway.
5. Thus they protested. But the protest itself was Unsafe. How could the devil or one of his minions violate their holy land? To take photos of them protesting the devil is to tempt the devil & followers.
6. Thus the newspaper groveled to signal it hadn't blasphemed & did belong in sacred collective. This is what is most important to them. Journalism to them is rather like being priests whose task is to convert the heathens. They owe their fidelity to the church of wokeness.
7. Since inviting Sessions doesn't in any way qualify as remotely evil, they invent their own emotional reaction in order to pretend that it is. "I'm terrified. This must be because the terror is real. Sessions must be causing the terror. This must be because he is racist etc."
All these potentially gifted kids. I pray this cult-like insanity disappears with Trump. I fear it won't.
9
People who apologize for accurate reporting are not journalists. Let them switch to marketing now rather than later.
23
This article is trauma. It should have never happened. I await your apology.
10
remember when the idea was 'who what when where how" ? that idea is long gone, real journalism died a long time ago. Now the "narrative" is all that matters.
6
This is truly the most idiotic thing I have ever read. Journalists apologizing for doing what they're supposed to do. They might as well quit now. News is "news" because it stimulates, it provokes, it agitates, it angers, and sometimes it even enlightens.
This idea of hurting marginalized people is nonsense. Be hurt! Feel the pain! It's part of life. Jeff Sessions will come and go. There will always be something or someone else that "hurts" in one way or another. Get over it.
14
"[Morton Shapiro] also questioned whether it had been a good idea to invite Mr. Sessions instead of a different conservative speaker, adding that the episode had been “polarizing.”"
Oh I see. We don't want to have who the university admin thinks are "polarizing" speakers on campus because it hurts our corporate brand.
15
Mr. Closson noted that he was navigating his role as one of only a few black editors in chief in The Daily’s more than 135 years.
“Being in this role and balancing our coverage and the role of this paper on campus with my racial identity — and knowing how our paper has historically failed students of color, and particularly black students, has been incredibly challenging to navigate,” he wrote.
As a trained journalist and African - American, I don't know or understand how these two positions intersect. Even if they have any value on what IMO was essentially bullying on the behalf of some pampered students.
The idea that you could protest without ramifications is laughable and the idea that the news is suppose to protect them is a riot. In some cases yes, a reporter should take precautions but in covering a public protest ? Pffft. Their behavior is no different from public figures who volley the claim of "fake news" around at printed criticisms.
I feel for Mr. Closson but this wasn't a case where he needed to be an honor to his race, as was in my time,but it does indicate there might have been little support and/or guidance from faculty as to how to approach this properly. As for students who felt "traumatized" by being exposed by the press while the post every detail on their social media accounts, you aren't ready for life.
24
Nice to see specific journalists coming forward to demonstrate their commitment to politics and not the ethics of their profession. At least we know where they stand.
4
Were any of the protesters arrested or disciplined in any way by the university ? This story (and other accounts I've read) doesn't address that. It seems important to the context of the Daily Northwestern's coverage and subsequent apology. I feel like I still don't have the complete story.
9
I have come to believe that the current debate on what can be said in a report to be published in whatever media needs to be conversant not only with journalism principles practices but should also require some training in law. There seems to be such a lack of understanding of what freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press actually means that we are agonizing over feelings that would limit any of our freedoms but should not. Hurt feelings are not enough to prevent honest coverage of an event.
5
This is a terrible look for the Northwestern newspaper and it's staff. I think the editorial staff's apology is deeply misguided and is ultimately incompatible with good journalism.
BUT I also think it's terrible that these undergraduates are being raked over the coals nationally by major professional news organizations, which have also made infinite mistakes as they attempt to navigate the truly insane media and information environment associated with the Trump presidency. These are students who are learning to be journalists at a time when that journalism can have a huge impact on their fellow undocumented students -- and perhaps change the course of their classmates' lives. I think the student journalists are misguided, but I also think it came from a place of compassion for their fellow 18-22 year old classmates, the lives of whom hang in the balance thanks to Trump, Stephen Miller et al. We adults should be a bit more gentle with our criticism. It's a hard time to be a student/aspiring journalist dealing with national political issues.
5
@G How will they learn if they are not criticized? When you treat people like they are fragile, they may think of themselves as fragile. If you treat them like they should be able to take it, they will. We understand this about a child who looks to their parent for how to feel about scraping their knees, why do we not understand it anywhere else? Northwestern has perhaps the finest journalism school in the country. They can do the basics.
11
@Matt There is a big difference between critique and being raked over the coals. The former is absolutely called for here; the latter is just bullying. Some of the Twitter threads I read about this last night made my jaw drop.
2
At a time when the media is under attack by Washington for doing their jobs, it is chilling to see journalists-in-training bowing to that kind of pressure. I hope someone in their school is helping them see what a mistake it was to apologize.
14
This is about student activists exercising power over media. They want to have a veto over the press for anything they consider "traumatizing." This view of the role of the activist in society must not be allowed to prevail.
123
Student journalists are apologizing for reporting on a student protest? Am I understanding this correctly? That's their job.
The protestors chose to demonstrate based on their beliefs. Why would they not be proud to have their views aired? Isn't that the point?
What happened to 'democracy dies in darkness'?
157
@CNNNNC
'democracy dies in darkness' is the motto of the Washington Post, not the New York Times. FYI.
4
@Mexico Mike
Clearly it's not the motto of The Daily Northwestern either.
30
The problem here is it’s never explained why the apology was issued. Is that the fault of northwestern or NYT or both? If we had an explanation we could evaluate its merits. For example did the apology go to covering the story or how it was covered? Might make a big difference
8
Thanks, I’m also confused as to why they issued the apology in the first place. Not a very clear article.
3
The apology was issued to the students who were contacted by the outside media due to their being in the school’s newspaper’s coverage of the event. The students and the paper were concerned about privacy issues. Or what happens at Northwestern stays at Northwestern.
1
Upon first read, I was confused about what happened. After re-reading, I finally understood what happened.
Compare this with the article from Washington Post. The WP coverage was definitely more understandable.
5
These students are simply acting out what their faculty and college administrator mentors are modeling. Let’s put the main blame where it belongs on the far left, divorced from reality powers that be in academia. But it is also fair to lay blame at the feet of these faux journalists in training—just how could their rational brain not tell themselves that apologizing for doing their job was absurd and that they would become—as they have, a laughingstock for doing so.
14
I have got to be missing something. What exactly did they apologize for?
6
I think most of the comments here has been what the "right" been saying about journalism for years
If good journalism is to survive the age of social media , then it need to print facts and news without compromise. Then people will flock back to these avenues of journalism, forsaking the trolls of the left and right
5
I made so many mistakes as a student journalist. I feel sorry for these kids doing so in the world of the internet and social media. Hopefully no one besides myself remembers my mistakes. (Especially not the interview involving the real-life famous student and my botched single recording, no backup, where I had to ask him to do the whole entire interview all over again.) These poor kids have their errors reverberating across the nation immediately.
Yes, this was a somewhat absurd mistake — apologizing for doing the basics of your job. But I’m embarrassed for the professional journalists who didn’t just tweet something like, “oh man, this is a doozy, but I myself also made some big boo-boos when I was a student journalist.” Or something a little less shaming.
I’m 44 now and a successful journalist, but even I continue to make mistakes. This is not an easy profession. I think the Northwestern journalists learned their lesson; there’s no need for the rest of us to act like we are all perfect.
6
Medill has turned into a marketing school with a side of journalism these days, so who knows what these students are learning. I get why the transition happened, but the result seems to be this.
~ Medill 2005; former Daily Campus Editor
3
The only mistake was the apology.
8
"allegedly a top journalism school" Allegedly being the key word. At my school, Los Angeles City College, the Chair of the Journalism dept., Joe Dojcsak told me to "Add a zero" to bulk out the 10 attendees at a protest for the massacre of Jesuit priests in El Salvador in 1989. Such is the advice from the 'top'; I told him, "Therein lies the story, only 10 people care enough to attend, and besides, what about truth in journalism? Silly me, I was shocked.
6
Incredibly dark day for Medill. Why does Mr. Closson need to “balance the role of the newspaper on campus with [his] racial identity”? He should be removed at once and replaced with a real journalist-in-training.
16
Boyoboyoboy. Mr. Closson and The Daily have played right into Sessions's hands.
5
I've never heard of a Newspaper apologize for a story in which there aren't any inaccuracies. Are they apologizing for covering the story? I'm very confused.
15
I can see why non-college educated people shudder whenever they hear about nutty left-wing college hijinks. Trump seems almost the lesser of two evils
6
The article and the issues here are so vague that it is difficult to follow the logic. First we're told that the students objected to their privacy being violated (after protesting in pubic!). Then the article veers off into a discussion of the editor's race, for reasons that are not apparent (are they saying it was racist to interview the protesters? I don't get it.) Then, the article starts to talk about Jeff Sessions and later devolves into a discussion of 'hate speech.' A lot of muddled thinking going on here, and we're certainly not preparing these college students for the real world by teaching them to regurgitate leftist talking points about (for example) "marginalized communities" for no discernible reason. Can anyone explain what is even going on here?
15
"Industry’s most powerful (white) journalists" should mind their P's & Q's and not go around criticizing people till they've ascertained their race. It is definitely not PC for a white person to criticize a black person.
7
These were mistakes made by young inexperienced kids.
They were not a matter of life or death.
You might think they were however with all of the drama in these comments about the “travesty” of their reckless acts.
They made mistakes, we all have, and now they’ve learned their lesson.
4
Idealistic millennials losing sight of the big picture once again, in their hapless effort to create a world that couldn’t possibly exist, because life is not as simple as they seem to think it is. Millennials: learn to take advice from those with experience.
13
"[T]aking photographs of people in public places and reaching out to ask for interviews is part of the job."
That's certainly true. But this article didn't provide enough information for readers to know whether the coverage was flawed, how it might have been flawed, whether the editor's apology made sense in context (because most of the context was missing from the story), how the photos of protesters were shared on social media and what exactly these protesters' complaints were about this sharing.
I'd be more interested in hearing from The Times about their coverage of this story than from the Daily about its coverage of the original story.
12
Combined with the flak Harvard's student newspaper is facing for doing its job, it's clear to see that journalism is dying.
As a former newspaper report, it's sad to see.
16
First, the Harvard Crimson is attacked for seeking comment from ICE for a story about ICE--the university's student council just voted to support a boycott of the paper. Now, this.
Are they handing out stupid pills on campus these days? My gosh. These are the sorts of things one expects, maybe, in a high school, not some of the most prestigious universities in the country. If journalists did what these snowflakes demand, journalism as we know it would not exist, and the craft is already endangered as it is.
As for race, baloney. Race has nothing to do with this, insofar as I can see. Own bad decisions, don't excuse them.
51
@August West Race has something to do with everything. Race is central to our history,our politics.our education system,our social lives,everything.
1
@Danielle Actually there are things that race has little or nothing to do with. Like Stupid. That's independent of race--and illustrated in this story quite nicely.
15
This story is confusing.
If you're protesting, don't you want your message to be heard? Why would you be upset that the protest was covered by the media? What am I missing here?!
26
@Laura Mom and Dad might see your photo in the paper.
6
This is my namesake rolling in his grave
15
This is a sad, sad day for serious journalism. Collectively the student newspaper should be ashamed of itself and the individual student journalists should return immediately to Reporting 101.
21
These young apologists — I'm not willing to call them journalists — are trying to do what's right. I don't doubt their sincerity. But I do doubt their judgment. Their view that their highest duty is not angering anyone is not compatible with the highest duty of journalism, which is telling the truth even if doing so provokes anger. They're being politically correct, which has no place in journalism.
118
@James Conner
These are student jouarnalists who are still learning, and despite their poor judgement, will hopefully learn and grow from the negative and vocal criticism of their poor choices.
Congratulations to all the journalists covering the story, who display and practice good journalism.
A lesson for all journalists, especially at college papers.
7
@James Conner. I agree with most of what you say. But I don’t agree they were trying to do what is right. They were choosing the easy way; choosing the politically correct way to ensure their fellow campus leftists could not accuse them of supporting a conservative like Sessions. That looks like cowardice, not the kind of courage real journalists need.
27
@James Conner Political correctness (as it is broadly defined in the culture, rather than the narrow definition which covers those subjects that 95% of the population long ago agreed are “incorrect”) and political activism have become hallmarks of this very paper, as audio and transcripts of inside discussions about the NY Times direction have relayed. Now, those advocating for that activist journalism may be a minority, but they are a minority that everyone is afraid of. Their power extends not simply to what is said and must be apologized for, but all that now goes unsaid, unreported, unwritten, etc. But the Times readership is as much to blame for this as anyone else. After all, a vocal minority prefer their bubbles. Despite employing mostly far left and center left opinion writers, this paper will be taken to task for the most moderate of right leaning opinion pieces.
We might think this wouldn’t affect journalism, but how could it not? This incident is telling because it is the tip of an iceberg the public so rarely sees because these disputes are usually managed in-house. POC will sometimes say about racism that they prefer the kind they can see, because at least they know. Similarly, we may come to prefer yellow journalism to the kind we are today seeing in attempts to placate activist journalists. The truth usually comes out, but it is meaningless if the institutions we have trusted to relay that truth are scared of Twitter.
15
Empathy appears to be overrated in journalism, or politics, or welding.
And as for Jeff Sessions and the "true meaning of the Trump agenda," I suggest he go back and reread the words of Jesus. He got "suffer the little children" all wrong.
3
As an old leftie, this is exactly what I dislike about college today - this notion that having anyone disagree with you is "trauma". (That is the word the protesters and the newspaper editor used.)
What the reporters did is called reporting. They took pictures of a protest. They reached out to students for comment....just as they should have done.
Shutting down speech, children, isn't free speech.
52
What a chilling article, the idea that a journalist would apologize for doing their job. Have they not been taught that their chosen profession is a sacred trust and along with free speech is the first line of defense against authoritarianism, dictatorships, and fascism?
108
@Scott
Why shouldn't they apologize if they are wrong? Much is said of the press in the greater system of checks and balances in a democratic society, but who checks the media when they are wrong and have become corrupt?
2
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus
The key word in your "Why shouldn't they apologize if they are wrong?" is "if".
20
@Scott
These are young inexperienced kids.
And this isn’t life or death.
They’ve learned their lesson.
I very much agree with Mr. Lowery's comment. This was a 22 year old who (perhaps) made a mistake, on a small student newspaper. To be called out in the way he was by "professional" journalists is outrageous. I'd love to see their own writing from that age.
In general, the outrage and venom with which much of the public currently reacts to campus behavior is in most cases worse than the original behavior. Complaints about political correctness have become more dramatic than much of the over passionate student missteps.
Also, the irony of commenters declaring how unprofessional it is for a student journalist to use twitter on a largely anonymous comment section is astounding.
10
@kc When I was a grad student of U. of Missouri's journalism school, I would have welcomed this kind of criticism from professional working journalists. I think J-students have a lot thicker skin than you're giving them credit for.
7
American students don't know what it means to be an American. They don't know the Constitution or understand the principle of free speech.
Reporters who comment on Twitter don't know laws that pertain to their "profession". The so-called public place of a university lecture hall is private property.
6
If ever there was a tempest in a teapot, surely this is it. Presumably high school and college newspapers are intended to be places where young people can learn the craft and ethics of journalism. Part of that learning curve is being allowed to make mistakes and improve. Importantly, if Closson erred it was on the side of being thoughtful and considerate. Is that really something to disdained discourage.
The NYTimes has made a half dozen questionable decisions with regard to ethics in the past year (not naming Anonymous inside the Trump administration; naming the New Zealand mass murderer etc.). As I recall, the world did not come to an end and the profession was not shattered and ruined by these questionable choices.
Give the guy a break.
7
I was the editor of the Daily Northwestern in 1964. I am appalled--but hardly surprised--at the Daily's actions. Appalled because it calls into question what Medill is teaching its fledgling journalists; unsurprised because the Daily suffers from a common ailment on our nation's campuses: viewing everything through a nakedly political and racial lens. That, and a mindless embrace of a curious new orthodoxy that assumes that academics and students have some sort of olympian wisdom that they just hafta ram down the throats of their fellow citizens. Enough, already.
64
@richard cheverton I have no idea what The Daily Northestern’s affiliation with Medill was when you were EIC, but it has been an independent student run publication since at least 1981 (my wife is an ‘81 Medill grad) with no official affiliation with Medill. That said, I agree with everything you wrote.
5
I didn't realize protestors deserved anonymity. Isn't the essence of peaceful protest in a democracy the willingness to stand up and be counted? Doesn't it make it easy for your opponents to disregard your arguments and if you fail to stand behind them?
57
We have a child currently studying at Northwestern (but not at Medil). We were on campus this weekend and saw nothing nor heard anything to show any outrage (one way or another) regarding the Daily Northwestern's apology
Everyone just calm down - the Daily Northwestern is not a mainstream, national publication. It's a local newspaper for Evanston residents and for students at Northwestern. It is not a publication meant to broadcast national opinion. It is run by students. Yes, they are smart, high achieving students - but students nevertheless. They are still "feeling their way" through college and life (the Daily Northwestern is published by students but separately from the admin from Northwestern - there are at least 2 other NW related publications - albeit, I believe the Daily Northwestern has the largest circulation)
But of course - the NYT does not miss any chance to slam anything remotely related to the Right..even in a small local publication meant for students and the people in Evanston. .that's why they needed to add all the rhetoric about Jeff Sessions, his time with our President etc.
6
@DB It is apparent that these "smart, high-achieving students" may lack the savvy and grit to be good journalists. Probably see some of them on the network morning shows in a few years reporting on best recipes and the latest hairstyles.
8
@DB You should get on social media a bit more. The NY Times is a day plus late on this. Northwestern is home to one of the most prestigious journalism schools in the world. The idea that the very people who are going into journalism as a career feel this way is concerning.
What is missing is the piece that students felt that Mr. Sessions speaking on campus was "trauma". That is what created the mess. Students felt that, given the trauma of someone who they disagree with speaking on campus, they should be anonymous. They are mistaken.
30
If the story was reported by outside media, yes regarding no anonymity, but this was a student publication for the students at that institution. The editor feels some responsibility for the privacy of his fellow students. Unfortunately, the apology brought even more public scrutiny, so it only added to the harm done. But the editor should be commended in his attempt to ameliorate a difficult situation caused by the article in question.
One of the best ways for a journalist to know whether he's doing his job properly is whether his work provokes outrage and anger. No one changed the world by saying the usual things to the usual suspects.
19
The JOB of journalists is to report the NEWS, not become PART of the news -- regardless of your race or political leanings. Bad call to apologize.
62
If the circumstances revolved around a neo-nazi rally and the newspaper apologized for taking pictures and refused to reach out for interviews would that be acceptable? Probably the PC establishment would have criticized the paper for the opposite reason.
1984 anyone?
49
I might be more accepting of all this high-minded journalistic criticism were we not living through the 4th year of "professional" journalists hiding behind false balance and fear to use blunt but accurate language (the word "lie" is an example that comes to mind).
So, for all you gate keepers of journalistic integrity may I suggest you get up from your desk, head down the hall, find the restroom and take a good long stare in the mirror.
Take your time.
Start walking it before you start talking it.
21
And millennials wonder why their elders call them "snowflakes".
67
That editorial has done more damage to the reputation of Medill as a top-notch journalism school than anything could ever do. Is this what they are teaching their students?
Of course you use the public student directory to get telephone numbers to contact sources. Of course you publish quotes and photos of a public protest of a campus speaker. What you don't do is apologize for doing your job.
223
@Carolyn
As real sustainable jobs in journalism have withered away with the internet, Medill has "enhanced" its program with a LOT of curriculum focused on marketing and other things.
I understand why they don't want to graduate skilled yet unemployable true journalists. But we can see the rot occurring.
13
@Carolyn Was the student directory in fact public? Often college directories are not, and you need to be a member of the university community to have access. In that case I can see why individuals might be troubled that a journalist is using a private resource for their reporting, even if those journalists are themselves students.
@Quelqu'un Actually, directory information are not private under the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act, although students can opt out of the directory. But if they are in the directory, that information is available to the public.
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In reading about the hurt feelings of these college students, I thought of the 1944 Memphis Belle documentary I saw on Veterans’ Day dealing with a bombing run over Germany. The average age of the crew was 19-20. Bet they would have loved to have had their tender feelings attended to. Instead German fighters and flak tried to kill them. Times change and now some 19-20 year olds need a safe space.
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Quite clearly, a career in journalism is not the goal of the editors for The Daily. They are more likely to aspire to be opinion writers given their explanation for their actions.
That's okay; everybody has an opinion and some people are able to write well enough about things that matter to do the profession justice.
But let's be honest.
Too many national media publications conflate opinion with journalism today. So it's not surprising that a college editor might do the same.
Too bad. We lose when such intellectual dishonesty prevails.
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Nothing but a tempest in a teapot.
Having been for more than 40 years Professor of Natural Sciences at Northwestern (now Emeritus), I always regarded the students' ethical and political expressions or outbursts as their conditioned-by-the-youth tendency to be influenced by the leftist radical Democrats. No news there under the Sun.
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What am I missing? How would the protesters have been hurt by the coverage? How would it have disproportionately hurt "marginalized" groups? How is the race of the commenting journalists relevant? What "lessons are to be learned" from that?
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@Koho It's because the protesters skewed hispanic and perhaps were undocumented or have family that is undocumented. The concern is that the media attention on protesting students -- particularly given the zeal with which the online alt-right loves to identify, doxx, and target lefty activists-- would make them more vulnerable to retaliation by right wing extremists and/or the US government / ICE.
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I'm sure this has bolstered the editorial staff's post graduation potential employment opportunities within the media world.
Hopefully they double-majored, because the journalism thing may not pan out like they thought.
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Perhaps the NYT buried the lede in this article?
While the editorial apology certainly provided an important context to discuss the role of journalists in a free society, the more important conversation may reside in the final paragraph in the article. "...He [the University President] also questioned whether it had been a good idea to invite Mr. Sessions instead of a different conservative speaker, adding that the episode had been 'polarizing.' "
To my mind, several questions deserve exploration:
1. What type of pressure, urging, cajoling, etc. did the editor endure from college administrators prior to the final decision to apologize?
2. Why would the President of the University feel comfortable enough to make that statement, particularly at a campus revered for its academic excellence in journalism?
3. How conservative is too conservative for a campus public forum?
Memo to the University President: "[P]olarized" defines our current socio-political climate. The comment did nothing to bridge that cavernous gap or to reconcile competing interests, the most significant of which is the First Amendment.
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@Peggy in NH This is an excellent point! President Schapiro's comment shows poor leadership. I sincerely wish more colleges and universities would sign on to the Chicago Statement. Kudos to those 70 schools that have done so already.
https://www.thefire.org/get-involved/student-network/take-action/adopting-the-chicago-statement/
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@Peggy in NH
Wait, the man mused, after the fact, that maybe it would have been better (from the stand point of the guy responsible for keeping order) to invite a speaker with the same ideological POV but less controversial personal baggage. And from this, you get:
1. That he pressured editors to apologize.
2. That there is something suspicious about a college president who gently says, in effect: “hey kids can you turn down the volume and be a bit more genteel and polite?” (I’m pretty sure there has never been a college president who didn’t.)
3. That he is proposing ideological limits on who gets to speak.
I would call this a pretty radical interpretation of the text! Maybe you should practice focusing on people’s actual words and not speculating feverishly on what hidden agendas or skullduggery might be behind them.
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@Peggy in NH
Exactly! Thank you!
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I see this as a learning experience on so many levels. I hope the Editors better understand their obligations to readers to keep their bias and judgement at bay. Also, this is a microcosm of how words do have agreed upon meaning. Folks need to be aware of the temptation 'redefining' words to suit their needs.
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Secretly recording and publicizing the racist comments of an NBA owner in a public space is okay, but taking photographs and interviewing students seen at a public political event is not okay, or at least requires an apology. Double standard snowflake victim culture nonsense.
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@Richard Katz
"Snowflake victim culture"
I assume you are referring to excesses of the coming of the Christmas season.
@Meta1 That too.
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I assume if you are protesting you want your views publicized and your identity known (unless you are wearing a mask as in Hong Kong). Don't blame the newspapers and reporters for spreading that information; and the reporters and editors should not be apologizing. TMPP (too much political correctness).
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Good grief, does this mean that journalism and media will become even more biased and untrustworthy as these students graduate and began their professional careers.
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The editor published his response in a "series of tweets"?!
Aside from the maniacal Trump when did Twitter become a mainstream disseminator of news or information? It's not a legitimate channel for publication, it's a casual conversational tool.
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Reporters and editors should not apologize for doing their jobs: seeking out news and reporting it. If someone is offended, that's his problem.
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So accordingly to the logic employed by Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post, a black student should not be corrected by a white professor? That's the implication of his statement. Yes, student journalists are students and, as such, should be cut some slack. But they are also journalists and need to learn the ropes, especially if they aspire to be professionals.
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@AHS
>> a black student should not be corrected by a white professor?
I think Lowery is saying that Glenn Kessler, a high-prestige, powerful journalist who is NOT the students' professor, should not have used such brutal terms as "travesty" in an extremely public condemnation of these young people.
Let's not be so quick to criticize student journalists, who are only learning, especially when there are areas that professional journalists (read: editors) find too "society upsetting" to cover.
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Let's start here: The scrutiny of this public apology is completely merited. This decision was made by the newspaper staff at a university widely held as one of the best in the country and where I like to add, I got my master's degree.
I can't imagine any of my professors telling me to apologize for looking up names in a phonebook or for photographing someone who was appearing in public and therefore had no reasonable expectation of privacy.
Which leads me to my biggest question: Where was this young man's advisor? He was navigating a fraught situation with what guidance? I hope Northwestern takes a good look at how they're advising students and teaching the balance between sensitivity, press rights, and the public good.
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I disagree with the position that the Daily Northwestern has taken on this issue, but I also think that the national media attention focused on their decision has been much too high. These are students. Like all college students and people their age, they need space to take risks and make mistakes without national-level consequences. Let’s back off here and let them work it out.
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@E they are students at one of the “best” schools in the country. They need to be held to the same standard as the professional journalists they might become in - for some - less than 12 months...
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@E Well said. I'm a Northwestern alum and former Daily editor, and the vitriol being thrown at these students (by other journalists!) makes me very uncomfortable. I read through a Twitter thread last night that had several variations of "I'm writing down your names and I will make sure you never get hired at my organization." Not for the first time, I'm thankful that when I was in college there was no social media to amplify my mistakes. The stakes for journalism are high here, and this isn't a sandbox -- but it's possible to criticize a decision and still be a person.
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@E Youthful mistakes are forgivable and a path to learning, for those who heed the lessons. What strikes me is how pliant they are in trying not to offend, which certainly wasn't a concern at my school paper post-Watergate (we were eager to agitate). It plays into the stereotype of college students being emotionally soft and too easily triggered.
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Taking pictures of people in public places and contacting people to ask for information isn't part of being a journalist. It's at the heart of being a journalist, and it requires neither apology for explanation.
I can guess how this happened. The newspaper did some reporting, and people got upset. It can be very hard for young journalists the first time people get upset with them. I remember the first time I got chewed out by someone for doing my job. I went back to the newsroom nearly in tears, and my editor called up the person who had lambasted me and told him off. It was a moment for growth, one that the people at the Daily Northwestern apparently have not had yet. The next time I got similarly attacked, by someone who told me that I had no right to take pictures of the crowds at a public parade, my response was simple: "Yes, I do. And I will."
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Treatment of the editor's race encapsulates this issue. That is, he mentions its relevance in _his_ comments - his awareness of the need to be careful - but his outside supporters seem to use it as a red herring - "You're criticizing him because he's black" (which there's no evidence of).
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Get used to it, folks. The "woke" generation prioritizes others' feelings, no matter how small the "transgression" over all else.
In many ways, their empathy is to be applauded. However, what is going to be sacrificed in the future is truth, fairness and a true understanding of the "real" world.
We're going to have a generation of people whose days will be spent trying to avoid hurting anyone's feelings. And on the rare occasion someone's feelings are hurt, the offender will be punished with a stint in rehab; the offended will spend some time in what they may call "safe space recovery."
Our present has been made horrifying by trump; the future may be just as scary.
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@Rich They won't spend time trying to not hurt the feelings of others. They'll spend time trying to not get their feelings hurt.
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These are student journalists. The level of scrutiny on this young man is way too high. I was a student at Northwestern and at the time knew many kids working on the staff - I shudder to think that the Internet shaming culture is coming down so hard on this individual.
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@Larry Port Understood but one needs a thick skin to be a journalist. Perhaps this is the biggest test he'll have in college.
13
Experience and guidance is needed especially for editors of color. So much is placed on the shoulder of young editors of color to represent the community fairly and equitably, the responsibility to be understanding, to be open, to be responsible as journalists, and yet not to fall into old pitfalls of white editors and their decisions on covering communities of color. But covering the community you must do warts and all, exposure and all, feelings and all. The community deserves coverage that is real. See The Chicago Reporter and its unflinching coverage of the black and Latino community in Chicago, the challenges to black and Latino aldermen, services, politics, and other areas of Chicago life. See the Chicago Defender for more. Seek out those great journalists of color in the city that have led newsrooms, great editors and publishers that have covered diverse communities as journalists honestly and completely and unapologetically.
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@North Carolina I respectfully disagree that the editor's race matters one way or another in this story.
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@North Carolina
I agree that the young need guidance, but I vehemently disagree that being being a person of color is a disability. The color of your skin does not make you better, worse, stronger, or weaker in character, intellect, or ability. If a young editor who is a person of color is wobbly, or even unready, it is because of their unique self and it’s challenges, not because the color of their skin makes them less.
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@Emily421
Especially given that there are no such things as 'races.' This pseudoscientific term denotes nothing but the learned perception of the user.
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These kids seemed more concerned their classmates were mad at them than focusing on doing their jobs. We can write it off as the angst of youth, to a point. What concerns me as a former journalist is the belief that protecting people's feelings is more important than telling the truth. Truth is already an endangered species, and we can't have the journalists of tomorrow treating it like a secondary option. If the staff of this paper can't see that, they need to pursue a different career.
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@StuAtl Your sentence should be the lede to this article. The editors live on the same campus as the students whose pix they used; they probably know and heard directly from their subjects. This rarely happens when the Times et al photograph a demonstration in Hong Kong. Give the kid a break, or explain your view of Journalism when you hire him at your newspaper!
2
I would think that protesters would want to be seen and heard. If you're standing out in public holding a big sign, you're making a public statement, and it is reasonable for you to expect everyone to see you doing it. A secret protest demonstration - what is the point of that?
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@Jonathan, I think the point is to remain personally anonymous, not have the protest be secret. I agree it's something of a head-scratcher, but it is a conundrum. How does one maintain privacy while acting publicly, especially when the tactical goal of most protest in the modern media era is to attract media attention to reach a wider audience, and most media attention nowadays is visual? And it's common knowledge now, after decades of anti-war and civil rights protests, that police surveillance is routine.
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@Paul Turpin
Should someone be allowed to be anonymous when acting publicly? Sometimes, as with whistleblowers, in specific limited circumstances, but a free society cannot survive if routine participation is not open. There is a reason people in Hong Kong wear mask—theirs is not a free society, but a police state. Not so here.
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@Jonathan Virtue signaling.
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As a former editor and reporter for two college newspapers and a high school paper, I can't say that I am sympathetic to the position taken by the editorial staff. They have a duty to report fairly and accurately public activities, including demonstrations, and to pursue interviews with participants. Apologizing for these legitimate and absolutely necessary activities does not further the cause of a free and unfettered press, and in fact amounts to self-censorship of a particularly "PC" variety.
Today, major campus papers have much greater latitude and therefore greater responsibility for professional journalism on a high order. As an example, I read the Michigan Daily almost every day because it is the sole provider of comprehensive news coverage here in Ann Arbor. In my experience, it consistently is operated as a professional and essential public news organ and organization and I am continually impressed with the scope and quality of their reporting.
The Daily at Northwestern needs to hew to that line. Free, unsuppressed, truthful, fair and accurate reporting without apology. Protesters are making a public statement, and should support dissemination of their views and positions as part of the purpose in protesting.
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@Dave in A2 As a Hegelian, I think you can both be right. We need to accept both these viewpoint and create a synthesis that incorporates both of them.
In the digital era, reporting has a different scope than previously. There's no longer any such thing as privacy, and it's going to be awhile before we figure out what comes next, and what to do about it.
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@I Shall Endure "We need to accept both these viewpoint and create a synthesis that incorporates both of them."
No we don't. Using a phone book to contact students is not an invasion of privacy. Publishing photographs taken at a public demonstration
is journalism. No synthesis between journalism and censorship is needed, or even possible.
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@I Shall Endure This is such a no brainer with no need for compromise. A public event is public and therefore reportable. I used to get complaints from suspects objecting to my news stories about their public court appearances. Nope.
Student protesters need to understand and take ownership of their public acts. Reporters need to accurately count how many are at the protest and find out why. Honestly, journalism 101.
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