US News makes lots of money by producing its annual graduate school rankings. But the content US News creates gets repackaged and reported by loads of other media outlets. US News quite literally produces the news when it fabricates its annual rankings. And the local media cover these stories very seriously. I wondered what sorts of headlines I'd find by doing a Google search of "law school ranked"…and here are a bunch of the ones that surfaced. No wonder every law school dean waits and worries when the US News rankings are a-comin'. And every law school dean ought to beware about flogging good news too aggessively…lest his or her constituents get very angry the next year if a chill wind blows.
Chapman U.'s law school rises up
MU students worried after Law School ranking drops to 93 (re: Missouri)
BU law trial advocacy program ranked fourth (re: Baylor)
UALR's Bowen Law School Ranked Among Top Legal Writing Programs
BYU and University of Utah tie in US News law school rankings
Case Western Reserve University School of Law stagnant in US News rankings
Vermont Law School's environmental program best in nation for the 13th time
GW Law reclaims top 20 ranking
U B Law School slips out of top tier (re: Buffalo)
UW Law moves up in popular ranking (re: Wisconsin)
US News ranks WVU College of Law in top 100
Progress at TU College of Law Praised (re: Tulsa)
We may be "stagnant", but we're still classy!