By David Spett

Put a bunch of Medill students in a room. Have them publish a daily newspaper that covers Northwestern. Then tell them Medill is changing in big ways. Given that the journalism school is a small part of the university, what should the newspaper do and say?

Daily reporters and editors have dealt with this question often in the past year. (Though, to be fair, not every Daily staffer is in Medill.)

For those who are not Medill nerds, a quick recap: John Lavine became Medill’s dean in January 2006, replacing Loren Ghiglione.

Lavine was formerly the director of the Media Management Center, a joint venture between Medill and the Kellogg School of Management, and he has implemented sweeping changes. According to a profile of Lavine in the Columbia Journalism Review, the dean intends to “blow up” the entire curriculum. “Revolution, not evolution” is his motto.

I should admit that I hold strong views on these issues. While I believe Medill needs to change, I have openly disagreed with the dean several times. This column is necessary regardless of my views.

The Daily’s staff consists of students, nearly all in Medill, who must cover the entire university and the city of Evanston. Can these students report on Medill fairly? And, given that Medill students make up only about 8 percent of undergraduates, how much coverage does the journalism school really deserve?

Robert Samuels, The Daily’s previous editor in chief, said it is too easy for the paper to devote coverage to Medill. Samuels cut back on Medill coverage and tried to focus on other schools. For example, when Ghiglione resigned, Samuels placed the story on page 3, to the chagrin of much of his staff, who wanted the story on the front page.

“When it comes to covering academics, the default school is Medill,” Samuels said, “and it very much should not be because only (8 percent) of undergraduates are part of Medill. … If you go to Sargent Hall and ask people, ‘Do you really care if the labs in Medill have Macs or PCs,’ I doubt any of them will say yes.”

Ryan Wenzel, the current editor in chief, takes a different approach. Given the dramatic changes, Wenzel said Medill deserves a significant amount of coverage.

“This is a watershed time for Medill,” Wenzel said. “I don’t think any other school can say that right now.”

The effects of Wenzel’s views are evident. In the first week of the quarter, The Daily published three articles and one editorial about Medill’s changes. The next week, a columnist also weighed in.

Managing Editor Teddy Kider said that if significant changes were happening in another school, The Daily would give it the same amount of coverage. Kider mentioned the international studies program, which was revamped this year and received front-page coverage on Oct. 11.

Samuels has valid points. Medill students know Medill better than any other school at NU; as such, the paper should make an effort to devote appropriate attention to other schools.

But given that Medill’s dean unabashedly says he wants to explode the curriculum, there is no reason for The Daily to cut back its coverage of this issue.

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Is it biased for this opinionated Medill student to write a column on whether The Daily has a Medill bias? E-mail me with thoughts on this or anything else.

Thanks to Assistant Campus Editor Amanda Palleschi for suggesting this topic.

Public editor David Spett serves as the readers’ representative. His opinions and conclusions are his own. He can be reached at [email protected].