Fake News: Marquette Tribune Recycles Discredited Rumor about Scott Walker and Marquette
From a story on Marquette Wire, on a speech by Governor Scott Walker on the Marquette campus:
This, in fact, was debunked long ago. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel investigated the claims, made by partisan Democrats, that Walker “either dropped out or was forced out” of Marquette because of some scandal. Marquette, citing student privacy laws, refused to comment without Walker’s permission. Walker gave that permission to Marquette, and the paper reported:
The Marquette Tribune has thus engaged in irresponsible journalism, probably as the result of a liberal bias.
Will they issue a correction? We shall see. The default position of the mainstream media (the folks Tribune staff are in training to join) is to stonewall.
Walker was once a student activist himself, and attended Marquette University for a time in the late 80s. There are disagreements as to why the future governor left the university shy of graduation, but one thing is clear: his time here was spent climbing the ranks of MUSG and building a political platform for himself.What the story refers to is a claim, by leftists, that Walker was expelled from Marquette because of fraud in a student government election.
This, in fact, was debunked long ago. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel investigated the claims, made by partisan Democrats, that Walker “either dropped out or was forced out” of Marquette because of some scandal. Marquette, citing student privacy laws, refused to comment without Walker’s permission. Walker gave that permission to Marquette, and the paper reported:
“Gov. Scott Walker was a student at Marquette from fall of 1986 until spring 1990 and was a senior in good standing when he voluntarily withdrew from Marquette,” the university said in a statement.Thus the implication that Walker might have been expelled or forced out of Marquette because of some scandal is bogus, and the claim was debunked back in 2013.
That means that no conduct issues, academic or otherwise, blocked Walker from continuing in school at the time of his departure, MU spokesman Brian Dorrington told us in early December 2013.
When we asked Dorrington whether any conduct issues were on Walker’s earlier school record, he said Walker would have to permit release of that information. Walker did so in response to our request.
“Governor Walker was in good standing each term while he was enrolled at Marquette University and when he left Marquette University,” Associate Vice Provost Anne Deahl said in a letter. “Governor Walker was not expelled or suspended from the university at any time.”
The Marquette Tribune has thus engaged in irresponsible journalism, probably as the result of a liberal bias.
Will they issue a correction? We shall see. The default position of the mainstream media (the folks Tribune staff are in training to join) is to stonewall.
Labels: Leftist Bias, Liberal Bias, Marquette Tribune, Marquette Wire, Scott Walker, Student Journalists
posted by John McAdams at 2:37 PM
3 Comments:
Marquette Magazine, not long ago, included an article about journalism at Marquette. Journalism as an endeavor in social justice was the theme. Perusing even the vetted for PR purposes information about journalism at MU dispels the notion that objectivity is promoted as a virtue. "Information" is the result of complex socio-cultural machinations, which a journalist must decipher and present in order to "be the difference." The mission statement of the college is revealing, in its rhetorically tiresome way: "Following the Catholic Jesuit tradition, we apply our resources and talents within an urban setting to improve the lives of our neighbors and the academic and personal lives of each student, staff member, faculty member, and administrator in the college." This is a rather astonishing statement. The mission of journalism, as taught at MU, is not to provide factual, truthful reporting. Rather, it's to promote whatever notion of the good the college has hatched, and impose it on the community. This "good," one or another variant of "social justice," justifies the construction of whatever narratives further the cause. Reporting facts, and promoting socially useful narratives, are entirely different projects. I think we need not worry that the Tribune will have any compunction about privileging its own crafted story about Scott Walker. The Jesuit public relations ethos is: Be The Difference. The Christian moral imperative is: Tell the Truth. We can see which has priority at Marquette.
There really is so little actual journalism as truth fights lies and bias daily. Sadly Trump is turning out to be nuttier than my
Old uncle Johnny who would say crazy stuff out of thin air. I hope he gets his ego and thoughts under control...soon.
Your old uncle Johnny sounds like a pseudonymous reference to Michael Lovell.
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