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...producing a persuasive argument for reopening the case is not the only result of the Medill project. The office of Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez has subpoenaed a broad range of materials from Northwestern, from off-the-record interview notes and student memos to class grades and syllabi for the school's Investigative Journalism class, which worked on the project. (See a gallery of exonerated prisoners...
Attorney Richard O'Brien, who is representing Northwestern in the case, says any idea that the school's student journalists aren't entitled to the same protections as working reporters is flawed. "It's not as traditional a platform as the New York Times or the Chicago Tribune, but I don't think anyone pretends that online journalism isn't journalism these days," O'Brien says. A judge is scheduled to hear arguments on the subpoena...
...Erik Ugland, a media lawyer and associate professor at Marquette University's Diederich College of Communication, says the judge will have to decide whether the students are journalists and whether their website could be considered news media. Ugland says Illinois courts have accepted professional journals and government watchdog groups as reporters, suggesting they may take a similarly expansive look at student journalists. (Read "Twitterers Thwart Effort to Gag Newspaper...
...whether the class's website could be considered a news outlet, Ugland says that while it isn't necessarily a "slam dunk," the students published their conclusions and much of their evidence on a publicly accessible website. "Certainly in spirit, the work that they're doing is the kind that the legislature no doubt had in mind when they extended these protections to journalists," he says. Additionally, the project is part of the Medill Innocence Project, which has had an impressive record since it started in 1999; student reporters have helped exonerate 11 convicts, including five inmates on death...
Ugland says the judge will have to weigh privacy issues when deciding whether to release student grades. Such information is usually privileged under the 1974 federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, although there is a subpoena exemption...