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Education Reporter: Newsroom reorganizations affecting ed coverage

This alarming account would undoubtedly be even more alarming if the survey had extended beyond members of Education Writers Association. Even so, it is plenty alarming enough.

by Lori Crouch


SHRINKING STAFFS: These days, you can’t read a day of Romenesko without the words “shakeup,” “buyout” and “newsroom reorganization.” Education Writers Association asked listserv subscribers about your experiences and found out you have had plenty. In fact, you told us these newsroom reorganizations have led to a decline in education coverage.

Here’s what we learned:

At least four newsrooms cut their education editors. Several others reduced staff or required reporters to take on new assignments on top of education coverage.

In at least four cases, including two large papers (circulation size above 100,000), the education staff was reduced to one person, who now has to cover education issues, at least one school system and higher education.

One of the most severe cases appears to have occurred at the Philadelphia Inquirer, where two education reporters took buyouts and another two were laid off.

Three of five education reporters at the Chicago Tribune also took buyouts, but the paper has already replaced two of them.
In Minnesota, the two major newspapers have had major reorganizations and the elimination of education reporting positions.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press a year ago lost its education editor and its statewide education reporter and one of the four remaining covers other things in addition to education.

The Star Tribune also lost its education editor recently and the Minneapolis and St. Paul education reporters now report to geographic teams. The general education reporter and suburban schools reporting positions are gone and now reporters who cover certain cities include education in their coverage.

The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin in Washington State eliminated its education reporter all together.

The Virginian-Pilot is one of the papers that lost its education editor. The reporters are now assigned to city teams.

So the reporters are doing less group coverage and collaboration on education issues, says Lauren Roth, who covers the Virginia Beach school system.

For instance, she recently wrote a story about shifting principal assignments in Virginia Beach, but wasn't able to compare notes with her colleagues, scattered in other newsrooms. So her story focused on Virginia Beach, rather than trends in the region.

Staff also cannot turn to editors for guidance on covering education issues because they don't have the "institutional memory" about whether the issue is new or not.

"They don't understand it any better than you do," Roth says, although Roth praises her own editor for encouraging her to focus on stories from the classroom rather than school board meetings.

But one newspaper took a different tack.
The Jackson Citizen Patrio in Michigan has actually boosted its education coverage in the past year. The paper increased the full-time reporting staff from one to two of a 10-person staff, hired a night editor who will also focus on education coverage and is a former education reporter himself.

The paper also uses freelancers to cover the eight smaller school districts of the 12 in the county.

"It's a pretty hefty commitment, but because of the number of districts we have, it's important," said metro editor Tom Perrin, who covered education himself at the Kansas City Star.

One of the full-time ed reporters, Chad Livengood, also blogs regularly in Taking Notes.

Livengood covers the Jackson school system, intermediate school districts, Jackson Community College, and other higher education institutions, while Tarryl Jackson covers the next two largest school systems and private schools.

The team has produced stories on where experienced teachers are teaching, and is now on a story about the cost of benefits packages and how much they are per student, Perrin said.

The community college is an essential part of the coverage because with the downturn in Michigan's economy, it is crucial for job retraining, he said.

Another newspaper not following the trend: The St. Petersburg Times, which just added a new education editor, who came to the newspaper from the Seattle Times.



— Lori Crouch
Education Writers Association
2007-07-16
http://www.ewa.org/desktopdefault.aspx?page_id=120&news_id=3074

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