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Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > August > 19 > Entry
A few words on the role of education blogs
Richard Whitmire
My friend and fellow Education Writers Association member Richard Whitmire from USA Today is guest blogging this week over at Eduwonk, one of the best known national education blogs. Richard has some kind words for Get on the Bus in the course of arguing that education coverage needs traditional media sources because free-standing education blogs could not provide the depth of coverage necessary for quality commentary on the issues without relying on traditional journalism.
I agree with Richard in general. At least for today.
I do think there will be opportunity, however, in the near future for self-supporting quality niche websites on topics of local interest. What it will take is talented journalist bloggers willing to cover issues in depth that will be overlooked as traditional media shrinks and narrows its coverage. But these bloggers also will have to handle the business side of blogging for a living, which is new territory for most journalists.
And yet there is an ever increasing supply of quality journalists exiting the corporate side of the media. We’ve already seen examples of these folks making local impact through niche websites. Just as an example look at Minnesota, where former traditional journalists now cover Minneapolis online through MinnPost and former New York Times foreign correspondent Doug McGill writes about the impact of world events on Rochester, Minn., at The McGill Report.
These pioneers are charting paths for effective stand alone journalism in the future, even if they are not yet self-sustaining through the old advertising-supported model.
I expect as media transitions to primarily an Internet delivery system, more advertising dollars will follow until the financial model will begin to work more effectively, whether for traditional media or for new entrepreneurs running niche sites.
So while Richard is certainly right for today when he says bloggers can’t really go it alone without traditional media, this may not remain true going forward.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment | Categories: Journalism
Comments
By Scott Elliott
August 22, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this
Mary, I think your question about Eric Bradley’s inclusion as one of just two parents as co-chairs is fair. His group was formed after sports were cut and it has actively lobbied for the return of sports programs. (It also raised a ton of outside funds to restore some sports programs.) But you’re off base about Breitenbach. Yes, Premier has advertising/sponsorship relationships with some suburban sports venues. But it has no such relationships with Dayton schools. Breitenbach himself is not associated with any district sports teams as a booster, “friend of the program” or the like. I don’t even know if he is a sports fan at all. But he is chairing an effort to reform the district’s finances and academics. There is really nothing about him that suggests he is a sports-minded levy co-chair.By Mary
August 22, 2008 9:11 AM | Link to this
Scott, if you do a google search of “Premier Health Partners artificial turf”, you will find two Dayton Daily news articles about Bellbrook and Beavercreek. Maybe Premier wants to donate some more artificial turf to the schools and get naming rights and trainer contracts if the levy passes.By Scott Elliott
August 22, 2008 12:47 AM | Link to this
Mary, Eric Bradley is the only co-chair with a connection to athletics. Tom Lasley is the education dean at UD. He is not in any way involved in UD’s decision making on Welcome Stadium and has no connection to athletics. Dayton’s sport medicine and sponsorship relationships are with Kettering Health Networks, not Grandview or Premier. Tom Breitenbach is the head of an external committee seeking cost savings in the district. Dan Foley is a county commissioner and also a Stivers School of the Arts parent. Surely the committee could have had more parents and represented more district constituencies. But it is not an athletics-heavy group as you suggest.By Laura
August 21, 2008 8:24 PM | Link to this
Well, Mary, apparently parents of gifted children aren’t much different than parents of “regular” kids. They don’t really care either.By Mary
August 20, 2008 9:10 PM | Link to this
So Scott, where is the parent involved in special ed, gifted ed, math boosters, acadmeic boosters, etc? The representative from UD has a stake in the shared use of Welcome Stadium which benefits from education and tax dollars. The representative from Premier Health Partners is apparently really into artificial turf and trainer contracts with schools. I am sure there are more athletic connections. Where are the academic representatives? College presidents do not seem to be academically focused.By Scott Elliott
August 20, 2008 2:22 PM | Link to this
Mary, other than Eric Bradley, a parent who heads an athletic booster group of sorts, there are no other co-chairs who have any significant connection to athletics in the district that I know of.By dadofaspie
August 20, 2008 2:09 PM | Link to this
I tend to agree with Mary - media coverage is focused on sports, thats where the money is. I know a good education reporter who quit over too little pay. I see inconsistency in school coverage; some reporters present a favorable view of schools, even when they are dead wrong. That’s true among parents - some will defend actions of corrupt administrators to their last breath. I was interviewed on the news a few years back - a school required me to provide a 24 hr notice to visit. Fox 45 conducted a phone survey, 96 percent said you should be able to visit school, w/o notice. Bob Batz conducted a phone interview of administrators, and all of them wanted parents to call ahead before visiting. School issues are often about control, and i haven’t witnessed a public school here that truly welcomes parent participation in education.By Mary
August 20, 2008 11:55 AM | Link to this
So Scott, could you get your “staff” to post your today’s front page article on the blog. Judging from the list of committee members, it appears the athletic boosters are, as usual, well positioned on the levy committee to snap up any loose change if the levy passes.By dayton driver
August 19, 2008 10:30 AM | Link to this
What Mary said.By Mary
August 19, 2008 8:00 AM | Link to this
From a reader’s and subscriber’s perspective - both to USA Today and Dayton Daily news - I think newspaper editors and executives are derelict in how they apportion and prioritize their staff. They seem to both have sports reporters up to wazoo, and overbudget and overpay for sports reporting - including the Olympics and OSU football games - but serious, more critical, issues, such as education and environment, get little staffing. I think I also read sports reporters are paid more. That is exactly how schools and colleges are run. I think the founder of USA Today got his start in sports reporting, and many newspaper editors, as well. Many school principals, superintendents, and boards are obsessed with sports. That has brought disfunctional schools and colleges, bad academics, and a decaying culture. I have observed and read about these issues for a long time now, and it is all interrelated. Parade Magazine (newspaper insert) pointed out last Sunday that readers thought college coaches were paid too much money. A July 20 article had compared college football coaching salaries to salaries of professors in engineering, etc. The conspiracy books talk about the role of the news media. Instead of being a good watchdog, it appears the media is a major part of the problem in dumbing down the culture. Feed the public sports and entertainment - not information.