The dean of one of the most prominent journalism schools in the country defended the student newspaper after it apologized for its coverage of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s campus visit but said the apology sent “a chilling message about journalism and its role in society.”

Charles Whitaker, the dean of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, said the apology was “well-intentioned gesture,” but it showed that journalists “are prone to bowing to the loudest and most influential voices in our orbit.”