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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > May > 08 > Entry
LA Times hops on the ed blog train
It apparently was launched quietly on May 1, but it appears the LA Times has a new education blog called School Me! (A nod to Alexander Russo at This Week in Education, who found it before I did.)
It appears School Me! will feature a weekly column by Bob Sipchen, a Pulitzer Prize winning editorial writer at the LA Times, adding another talented scribe with a distinctive voice to the small but growing stable of mainstream media (MSM) education blogs. In between columns, there are more traditional blog posts, which apparently will be written by Sipchen and a colleague.
By my count, this makes six MSM edublogs, including this one. Bigger papers seem to be suddenly jumping on board, with the Miami Herald’s Matthew Pinzur only recently having begun Gradebook.
Weirdly, as Russo hailed the appearance of a serious new voice in the MSM edusphere, he claims this one appears more promising and different from the rest of the MSM education blogs because Sipchen is “neither relatively green nor a reporter.”
Huh? Alexander appears to me to be mostly wrong on both counts.
First of all, I wonder if Sipchen would agree that he is not a reporter, considering that he was a reporter on the staff of the LA Times for 11 years before becoming an editor in 1998 and later helping to lead the Times’ opinion pages. Oh, he was also a freelance writer for seven years before working at the Times.
So is he really that different from the rest of us MSM edubloggers? Alexander also hints that Sipchen is more experienced, as opposed to other MSM edubloggers, whom he calls “relatively green.” What makes for a “green education reporter?” Well, at a recent education reporting seminar I went to, less than five of the 30 or so reporters in attendance had covered the beat more than three years.
So are the MSM edubloggers really green? Let’s take a quick look:
- The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s blog is written by several people, but recently Alan Boursk has been posting most often. Boursk has a mere 34 years as a reporter, including 11 years covering education.
- At the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, edublogger Patti Ghezzi has been covering education since 1997, or nine years. Oh, and she used to be a teacher.
- I honestly don’t know how long Jennifer Fernandez, who’s been writing for The Chalkboard blog at the Greensboro News-Record in North Carolina, has been an education reporter. But I know she’s been edublogging longer than most, since 2004.
- Pinzur’s Gradbook blog at the Miami Herald says he’s been covering education for four years.
- Then there’s me. I’ve been a reporter for 15 years and covered education for nine years.
I don’t know. It seems like on the whole MSM edubloggers are pretty experienced and serious. And while some of the MSM edublogs are still finding their way, I think a couple have pretty distinctive voices and a lot of interesting things to say. They are, by definition, different than solo bloggers, or those who blog on behalf of education organizations. MSM edublogs have a particular, local audience they have to think about, which tilts them some. And generally, they are less opinion driven than most blogs. But I still find them informational and, in many cases, fun.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Journalism
Comments
By Mary
May 9, 2006 1:27 PM | Link to this
Matthew, I think judgments about what should be disclosed to the public about a reporter’s or columnist’s background depends on the particular issue or area of education being reported. One of the Dayton columnists/humorists openly points out his wife is a teacher when he discusses education issues. I believe another reporter in sports did the same. When you think about how decisions and opinions regarding education also directly impact the reporter’s life, lifestyle, and possibly health care (also the newspaper’s health care bills), I think some disclosure is professionally appropriate.By Matthew I. Pinzur
May 9, 2006 11:15 AM | Link to this
For the sake of completeness: I’ve been a reporter for eight years, in Florida for nearly six and covering education for four. Never been a teacher or studied education - most of my background is in covering government and politics. And my wife works in public relations… but growing up she wanted to be a teacher, if that helps…By Mary
May 8, 2006 9:48 PM | Link to this
The education reporter’s/editor’s experience level may be important but so is some disclosure on personal background and bias and possible conflicts of interest that might influence their objectivity. For example, the reporter who has a teaching background might have some helpful insights, but also some possible biases. It seems a lot of reporters/columnists are married to teachers. It is usually left up to the public in cases like these to read between the lines.