The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications (branded as Northwestern Medill) is the journalism school of Northwestern University. It offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Founded in 1921, it is named for publisher and editor Joseph Medill.
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History
The Medill School of Journalism was founded in 1921, and named after Joseph Medill (1823–1899), former owner and editor of the Chicago Tribune, which was then run by his grandsons Robert R. McCormick and Joseph Medill Patterson.
In February 2011, Medill received a grant from the Knight Foundation to establish the Knight News Innovation Laboratory. The lab is a joint initiative of Medill and the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern. It combines the disciplines of journalism and computer science together.
On March 11, 2011, the Board of Trustees of Northwestern University approved the name change of the Medill School of Journalism to an expanded version, the "Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications".
Controversies
2008 Quotegate
In a February 11, 2008 column written for the Daily Northwestern, Medill senior David Spett questioned the use of anonymous sources by Dean John Lavine in a letter Lavine wrote for Medill's alumni magazine. Lavine attributed a quote praising a Medill marketing class to "a Medill junior" in the class. Spett reportedly called all 29 students enrolled in the class, including all five Medill juniors, and according to Spett, all denied saying the quote. Lavine denied fabricating the quote in a February 20 email to students, but expressed regret for what he called "poor judgment" in not keeping his notes.
The so-called "Quotegate" controversy was the focus of stories, columns and editorials in local and national media, including the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, The Washington Post and Editor & Publisher.
Medill Justice Project
The Medill Justice Project, originally known as the Medill Innocence Project, began in 1999, as an effort by Medill faculty and students to reinvestigate murder convictions in Illinois and determine if people were wrongly convicted. This effort has helped to free 11 men, including Anthony Porter and the Ford Heights Four. Medill Justice Project work is credited with prompting Illinois Governor George Ryan to suspend the death penalty and commute all death sentences in 2003.
In 1999, the project successfully worked to free Anthony Porter, who had been convicted of killing two people. Alstory Simon made a video confession to the crimes, encouraged by the Medill Justice Project and a private investigator. Simon pleaded guilty and was eventually sentenced to 37 years. However, in 2014, authorities exonerated Simon and freed him from prison. Anita Alvarez, of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, criticized David Protess, the Innocence Project founder and director, and long-time Medill journalism professor. Prosecutors said Protess, private investigator Paul Ciolino, and Medill students manipulated Simon into making the confession. The Innocence Project allegedly told Simon he could be executed, said he could earn money from book deals if he cooperated, and falsely claimed there was a witness who implicated Simon. The Medill Innocence Project has been accused of framing Alstory Simon for the murders. In 2015, Simon sued Northwestern for $40 million; the case was settled in 2018 for an undisclosed amount.
From 2009 to 2011, the project was involved in a dispute with the Cook County, Illinois state's attorney over the handling of the Anthony McKinney case. The university claimed reporter's privilege in resisting a subpoena for Justice Project records of the case, while the state claimed the project had been acting as investigators in behalf of McKinney's counsel. Medill faculty member David Protess was suspended during this dispute. In 2011, Protess left to found the Chicago Innocence Project and blog for the Huffington Post while the school gave up the records.
In February 2018, Medill Justice Project Director Alec Klein was accused of bullying and sexual harassment by multiple former students and employees. Klein "categorically" denied the allegations and took a leave of absence during the university's investigation. Klein resigned from his position and left the university in August.
Alumni
Medill alumni have won:
40 Pulitzer Awards
6 American Business Media Jesse H. Neal Awards
71 National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Emmy Awards (NATAS)
5 Public Relations Society of America Anvil Awards
9 University of Georgia George Foster Peabody Awards
11 American Society of Magazine Editors' National Magazine Awards
2 International Association of Business Communicators Gold Quill Awards
7 Columbia University Alfred I. duPont Awards
1 Academy (Oscar) Award
Notable alumni
The school recognizes alumni "whose distinctive careers have had positive impacts on their fields" with its Hall of Achievement award, as well as alumni who have been awarded a Pulitzer Prize.