Last week's dust-up about the latest issue of the North Dakota Law Review must have brought a nostalgic smile to every former student journalist -- and perhaps a self-satisfied grin to everyone who ever advised a student publication.
There were a lot of lessons in the episode.
Here's the story, as reported by Janell Cole of our capitol bureau:
The Review, published by students at the UND Law School, published an issue devoted to family law. The articles reflected a narrow range of opinion. Some practicing attorneys reacted strongly. The dean of the school issued a disclaimer stressing that UND and its law school "are welcoming and inclusive educational institutions."
The first lesson here is, "Take a serious subject seriously."
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Student editors apparently failed to advertise widely enough for submissions for their special issue. It's no surprise that activists responded. They always do. That's a second lesson. Activists see media as a tool in their crusades.
It's also no surprise that main stream attorneys didn't respond. They're busy with their professional lives. And they don't have staff to generate submissions on their behalf, the way that activists often do. Lesson No. 3: Diversity of opinion must be actively sought after.
It's also no surprise that attorneys who take a different view of the subject than the activists who submitted were harshly critical of the students who produced the issue. Overreaction is common. That's Lesson
No. 4.
Certainly there was plenty of overreaction. One attorney dismissed the issue as "editorializing and theological perspective" and said it brought "shame upon us."
Another accused the students of providing a "tool that gives license to spread their beliefs."
These comments point up a complication facing the Law Review. It's not just a student publication. It's also the official publication of the North Dakota Bar Association. Lawyers feel very possessive of it.
There's no doubt that this issue fell short of the standards the Bar Association, the Law School and the student staff set for themselves.
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But it's worth remembering that this is only one of a succession of issues of the Law Review. Taken over time, the Review should -- and does -- reflect the full diversity of opinion about subjects, even highly charged ones.
Of course, there's another dimension here, and that is the turnover in the Law Review staff. It's edited by students, and students graduate and move on.
All that said, the Law School and the Review staff have a responsibility here. They need to ensure balance in the run of their issues. That means seeking a diversity of opinion and printing it.
Here lie what may be the greatest lessons of all. Words are powerful. Printing them has consequences. Editors are responsible.
All of these lessons have application in the world beyond the campus. This episode establishes that -- and proves again the importance of providing these publications as part of the learning environment.
-- Mike Jacobs for the Herald.
