Our Thinking

Posted 05/19/10 by Meredith Miller

The Transformation of Education Journalism

Topic(s): Media Relations   

The Brookings Institution recently released a study entitled "Re-Imagining Education Journalism."  At the very time when policy makers at the local, state and federal level are highly focused on the state of American education, media coverage of education is going through a major transformation.

It is no secret that in recent years, news organizations have lost subscribers and are facing tough competition from web-based outlets. Today, fewer people rely on subscriptions to one or two news outlets, but instead, follow a larger number of mostly free publications or Internet sites. This has had serious ramifications for the coverage of education.

With smaller budgets, local newsrooms are shifting from the traditional model of beat reporters to more general assignment reporting.  The result – fewer reporters focused specifically on education at the local level.  Additionally, education reporters now perceive the beat as a non-prestigious assignment. If they are successful in education, reporters typically use it to gain a better assignment. This leads to churn in the profession and poses challenges for those of us in the communications industry seeking to establish on-going relationships with local education reporters.

At the national level, the professional title, “Education Editor,” is rapidly disappearing off the radar. Today, out of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, AP, Time, Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report, there are only about 10 reporters who are full-time education staff, according to this report.

Increasingly, education news, like general news, is being delivered through digital niche publications, news aggregators and social media sites (Blogs, Facebook and Twitter). In some cases, not-for-profits are getting involved in the reporting process through subsidies to media outlets. For example, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Carnegie Corporation provide expertise and financial support to National Public Radio to boost education-related reporting.

Clearly, the move toward digital media is fundamentally shifting the nature of education coverage.  Despite the widespread acknowledgment that improving education and educational opportunities will be an integral part of finding solutions to the problems facing America, education reporting remains in flux.

A similar transformation has taken place in the coverage of environmental issues.  Many well-respected reporters at the national level have seen their job opportunities vanish.  However, a robust offering of subscription-based, online media has filled the vacuum.

Will the education reporting sector ultimately enjoy the same commercial success?

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