By Curtis Lawrence and Suzanne McBride (Chicago Sun-Times, Sept. 14, 2013)
As journalism professors at Columbia College Chicago, we often take students to government meetings. It’s their opportunity to see government in action and to report stories right alongside working journalists.
There’s always a lesson to be learned. Did you ask enough questions? Did you ask the right questions? How can this be explained more clearly?
But our students learned a different lesson a couple of weeks ago, one that challenged their assumption — and ours — about the basic right they as members of the public have to attend government meetings and to witness their taxpayer dollars at work.