Joe Mathewson

(He/Him)

Professor

Phone:312-520-8950Email:m-joseph@northwestern.edu

Joe Mathewson is a former Supreme Court correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and a practicing lawyer in Chicago. Mathewson also covered business for The Journal, was a reporter for WBBM-TV in Chicago, press secretary to Illinois Gov. Richard B. Ogilvie.

He was a Cook County commissioner and a director of several community banks, was an officer of a minority-owned broker-dealer, and was a securities arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers. He also served ten years as a trustee of Dartmouth College.

Education

Mathewson has degrees from Dartmouth and the University of Chicago Law School, and did graduate work in European politics and economies at the Bologna (Italy) Center of John Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

Authored Works

Ethical Journalism: Adopting the Ethics of Care (2022, Routledge)
“The Supreme Court and the Press: The Indispensable Conflict,” published by the Northwestern University Press - This book examines the often dysfunctional relationship between these two Constitutional forces over more than two centuries, emphasizing that although they are interdependent, each has failed the other at times, and still today both could be doing their important work better, to the benefit of the public that relies on them.
“Up Against Daley" - A book on Chicago politics
"Law and Ethics for Today's Journalist: A Concise Guide"
"A Quick Guide to Writing Business Stories"
He is a contributor to chicagohistoryjournal.com with pieces on Chicago-based Supreme Court cases and the prominent lawyers involved in them.
He wrote several op-eds and Sunday magazine articles for the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times.

Courses Taught

Mathewson has taught Business and the Economy regularly since January 1997. He also teaches Ethics and Law of Journalism.

Areas of Research

Freedom of the press in state constitutions and law.

2006 meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication: "State Guarantees of Freedom of the Press May Again Be Best, Just as They Were First."