Blagojevich case provides real-life lessons for college classrooms

The Rod Blagojevich saga has been a fountain of solid-gold material for newspaper writers, television pundits and late-night comedians.

Now, college professors are about to get into the act.

The criminal charges levied against the Illinois governor, as well as the media discussion surrounding them, promise to be fodder for discussion in college journalism, government and ethics classes during the coming months, local educators say.

"As a teacher, this is wonderful," said Charles Madigan, an ex-journalist who teaches media and journalism classes at Roosevelt University. "The alleged behavior isn't good, but the situation provides an excellent array of talking points for a college class."

Federal prosecutors have accused Blagojevich of trying to obtain campaign contributions in return for official actions, pressuring the Chicago Tribune to fire an editorial writer critical of him and essentially auctioning off the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Blagojevich has denied the allegations.

The charges and the scandal have resonated with college professors in a variety of disciplines.

Madigan said he would like to use the case in an ethics class.

"You'd want the course to help students develop a sense of ethical correctness, and corruption cases like this one provide a good context for that," Madigan said, adding that he'd be careful not to "prejudge" the case, as it hasn't been resolved in court.

Mike Conklin, another former Chicago journalist who now teaches full-time at DePaul University, said he plans to use the case in future journalism classes.

"There are a lot of ways to look at this from a journalism perspective," Conklin said. "One is the issue of journalistic integrity, and the importance of not caving in to pressure. What does it mean that the Tribune did not, in fact, fire anyone at the governor's request?"

Bobby Summers, a political-science professor at Harper College in Palatine, said the Blagojevich case provides an excellent springboard for a discussion of the corrupting influence of power.

"The things the governor is accused of doing are so blatant," Summers said. "It's a great way to get students thinking about what would make someone do that."

Dick Simpson, head of the political science department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said the case will almost surely be part of future state politics classes at the university.

Like other educators surveyed, Simpson said he generally tries to bring real-life events into the classroom, when appropriate.

"The level of interest students show in things like politics waxes and wanes," Simpson said. "I always take advantage of an opportunity to make a concept or idea real."

DePaul's Conklin agrees. He used November's presidential election and Chicago's ongoing efforts to host the 2016 Olympics in recent courses.

"It's particularly helpful to study real-life examples when you're discussing something like political journalism," he said. "Fortunately - or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it - Chicago and Illinois have produced plenty of good examples of political corruption to choose from.

"It's like the gift that keeps on giving."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/packages/2008/blagojevich/">Daily Herald's complete Blagojevich coverage</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>