Dear Students,
Please work on education beat today. Also, refer to what we had discussed in the class. Add whatever best you can.
All the best.
INTRODUCTION
Education defines the lives of the people living in a community. Education is not limited to the classroom, as it takes place anywhere and everywhere. Holding such a crucial part in lives of the people, education is one of the most important news beats in journalism.
The education beat is a wide umbrella, covering everything from preschool through higher education, and from school funding to learning outcomes.
With the education beat reporting, the readers get to know the latest on education. The education sector is fast evolving with new innovations and technologies. With the recent happenings in the world, the education beat is there to inform the audience of the recent happenings in the education system so as to adjust or take precautions. This beat also brings to light the excellence and progress of the education sector in a particular community, state or country.
Reporters covering education need to understand the structure, staffing and economics of the school systems they cover, which may vary widely. They should be prepared to decipher statistics and to compare budgets over time to see where the money goes and what happens as a result. Covering education also means tracking statistical data such as dropout and graduation rates, teacher retention and vacancy rates, principal turnover and the results of high–stakes testing.
Areas covered in education beat:
Following are the areas which are covered in education beat:
• School board and PTA meetings
• Voices of schoolchildren, parents, college students etc.
• Structure, staffing and economics of the school systems and other educational institutions
• tracking statistical data such as dropout and graduation rates
• teacher retention and vacancy rates
• principal turnover and the results of high–stakes testing
• policy issues like the certification process for teachers or efforts to end social promotion
• Ranking schools’ performance considering demographics like race, income or parents’ education.
• Reporting on cutoffs of the colleges
• Technologies used in the educational sector
• Funds allocated the sector
• Public and private schooling and what is happening in universities and colleges regarding academic activities and developments
• co–curricular activities, unions are highlighted in the news stories
• literacy rate and programmes to increase literacy rate
• adult education
• Trends in classrooms teaching and dozens of other significant problems can also be reported.
Skills required for the reporters:
Some of the necessary skills for education reporting have remained consistent across decades, even generations. Education journalists have always needed to know how to evaluate schools based on both qualitative and quantitative measures, how to interview children effectively, and how to analyse a budget.
Other skills have emerged and expanded in recent years. It’s increasingly important that education reporters be able to organise and analyse data using spreadsheet programs like Excel, for instance, given that many school districts and states now make data available only in that form.
• Size up school
Reporters need to be able to assess the quality and nature of a school quickly, but carefully. They must pay attention to whether students are engaged in work, teachers are professional and prepared, and administrators have a motivating and organising effect on the school.
• Analyse budgets and statistics
At every level of education — school, district, university, state or federal — education journalists must be able to read and decipher budgets, spotting trends, gaps, or aberrations in the intake and outflow of money for schools. They must be comfortable with numbers, as they will frequently be awash in them.
• Interviewing children
Education reporters must learn how to interview students effectively and with sensitivity.
• Use technology and social media
Education journalists need to be comfortable telling their stories using multiple platforms. They should also be able to generate story ideas and engage with readers via social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
• Understand political dynamics
Education reporters need to be skilful in detecting when school politics are in play at the local, state, and federal levels. School board members, teachers’ unions, and administrators all engage in political tugs for control or power. Governors, lawmakers, and mayors sometimes promote specific education policies or changes with broader political goals or ambitions in sight.
• Know open meetings and public record laws
Education journalists should familiarise themselves with relevant open meetings laws so they will know if — and when — a school board, charter school board, or state board of education might be in violation. They should also know which types of documents and records are available to the public and which ones are not. And they must know how, and when, to file an open records request.
• Use spreadsheets and database programs
Education journalists must possess at least basic proficiency with spreadsheet and database programs, because state, school district and college data increasingly are available only in spreadsheet form. Reporters will also find that knowledge of these programs enhances their ability to sort, summarise, and analyse education–related data of all types, including test scores.
• Report and interview on a broad range of subjects
Unlike journalists who perform a very specialised role at a news organisation, such as restaurant or art critics, education journalists must be both specialists and generalists. Most education reporters will find they have to cover a broad range of stories, including politics, business, breaking news, and human interest. They will have to cultivate a wide variety of sources.
Ethics of education beat reporting:
Journalists on all beats routinely face important ethical questions. But that is especially true for education reporters, because their work involves covering children. Some ethical decisions are black and white: Education reporters should never, for instance, interview a young child about a sensitive topic like sexual abuse without the permission and presence of a trusted adult. But many issues are grey areas: Thoughtful journalists might reach different conclusions, and even the most careful, experienced reporters can misread a situation or make a mistake.
The following guidelines aim to help steer journalists through some of the murkier ethical terrain they will undoubtedly encounter when reporting on children, families, and education.
• Be explicit on the front end
when visiting classrooms and schools, education reporters should try to ensure — whenever practically possible — that employees and students know who they are and the purpose of the visit.
• Be permissive on the back end
While reporting on young people, journalists and media organisations should be more flexible when it comes to such issues as unnamed sources and the retraction of controversial quotes.
• Never accept work you would not feel comfortable disclosing publicly
An education journalist might consider doing freelance work for a local foundation uninvolved in school–related causes. But if the foundation advocates on education issues, then the assignment would likely pose a conflict.
• Weigh carefully the public’s need to know against an individual’s right to privacy
After learning as much about the context as possible, reporters should ask whether there is a broad public interest in exposing the information.
• Don’t condescend, but err on the side of assuming naivety
Education journalists should assume minors are not familiar with concepts such as on and off–the–record, and do not fully grasp the implications of media exposure. They should explain to children that articles or videos about them can live indefinitely on the Web, reaching readers and viewers they might not have anticipated, including relatives, friends, and strangers.
• First, do no harm
Journalists should be careful not to add to a child’s trauma or pain when reporting highly sensitive or controversial stories.
• Verify online information
Education journalists should make sure they do not get sloppy — by copying and pasting information from online sites, or repeating unverified statements made by students online.
SOURCES OF EDUCATION BEAT
• School newspaper and magazines
• Colleges
• Universities
• Autonomous college and institutions
• Research papers
• Education departments
• Government schools
• NCERT resource center
• Students
• Teachers
• Parents
• National education associations
• Education writers’ association
• HRD Ministry
• University grants commission
CONCLUSION
This article provides an overview of the education beat, which is a crucial part of Journalism. The horizon of education reporting is very wide.
These days many reporters are trying to concentrate on Education reporting which focuses on young people. For the reporters, educational stories are easy to cover which includes exam scores, campus stories, and sports. They can also cover the safety regulations of the students or underpaid teachers in an academy. For example, in India, the reporter announces the results of entrance or final results of schools and colleges.
The education system, its merits and demerits are the main sphere of education reporting.
The education reporter is normally expected to cover activities at all levels of the research and schooling system from policy making to the teachers in the classrooms.
The education beat offers the opportunity for many routine stories as well as major news breaks, features and interpretative pieces.
Examples of education beat can be read on the following link:
References:
Himani Jindal
Department of Journalism LSR, Batch of 2022
(Disclaimer: The views expressed are personal)
15 Responses
The writer missed out a very significant theme of this article . She did not include examples of reports about education beat which created a hype in media or how has some reports about the best has helped in the welfare of society and has leaded to further debates and discussion in media .
Examples gives readers to associate the given knowledge with their surroundings and it generates more impact.
The writen should have further added on now reports on education beat help the govt in tackling with issues related to education .
Nevertheless , it's well written article .
Excellent article Himani!
Education beat reporting is one of the most interesting beats to cover. However, a lot of journalists are hesitant to get in the regular practice of education reporting, as they claim it to be very monotonous and uninteresting. Tips on how to improve your education article could be shared in the article, along with famous education beat writers and journalists.
Link: https://www.ire.org/resource-center/tipsheets/4872/
https://www.educationdive.com › 10…
10 education journalists on Twitter you need to follow | Education Dive
very well written! moreover, education beat is not restricted to the coverage of student life but also includes stories of teachers, trustees, scams, and the public and private educational sectors in general. This can be elaborated slightly more upon.
Hi Himani! Your article is great, all the broad topics have been covered that one could mention in an answer. However, I would suggest, you also emphasise upon the professional challenges faced by education journalists. For example- Sometimes, journalists find it difficult to gain in-person access to campus, how the institutional authorities can be hostile to them. And a survey also revealed time related constraints faced by them. Also, you could mention how education journalism can make difference in society.
Hey Himani!
This is a very well researched article containing information related to all the concerned areas. I suggest you to add some more content related to the HRD Ministry and their efforts made for the improvement of Indian educational system. You can also add statistical data related to the quality of education in India which will connect the article to current scenario.
Hope it helps!
Thank You
– Deepika Saini
-Lady Shree Ram College
Great article Himani! Really informative and a lot of condensed points. I would have a liked a bit more elaboration on the difficulties that education journalists go through to contact their sources which are usually the school students or the administration, both not particularly easy to interview. However so, the article covers nearly every other subgopic on education beat and I learnt so much more than I knew before. Very helpful and thank you for your hard work.
– Vasudha Raina
Good work Himani!
I suggest you to add some more about various struggles and problems faced by Education Beat reporters. You can also include about various educational magazines, Educational writers association, Budget allotted to Education and also struggles and ethics in the field as well.
Thank you!
Arya Krishnan
Fist year
Department of journalism
The article is very well researched and written. More emphasis can be put on the usage of education beat to improve the quality of education and teaching patterns. Hope this helps 🙂
Best regards
Sukriti
Hey Himani. You article covers many important facets of education beat which are comprehensively presented !
Just suggesting , that you add how education beat reporters procure and attain their sources. There have been big scam reveals in board exams and also leaking of papers in the past which have been debunked. That aspect can also contrast how education beat, regardless of being a challenging forte , does go a long way to present a true picture of the education system at times
Hey Himani. You article covers many important facets of education beat which are comprehensively presented !
Just suggesting , that you add how education beat reporters procure and attain their sources. There have been big scam reveals in board exams and also leaking of papers in the past which have been debunked. That aspect can also contrast how education beat, regardless of being a challenging forte , does go a long way to present a true picture of the education system at times
I read the article.Its very informative and very helpful for making notes. Really explains everything in detail,the article is very interesting and effective.Thank you Himani
-Monika Bhandari
-Agrima Gulati
Department of Journalism
LSR'22
Hello Himani
Your article seems to be enlightening and useful. It is very well framed and researched.
However, I would like to mention one point under the Ethics of Education Beat reporting. The journalists cannout be always explicit and it is sometimes useful to avoid disclosing their identity or the purpose of their visit. This is because the school authorities or the employees can hamper the true routine of the school and attempt to display practicing of artificial routines that are not a part of the school activities. Perhaps for true journalism, I believe that the journalists should not always disclose their identity.
Soumyaa Rawat
B.A. Hons. Journalism
I read yr article Himani and this article is very well structured and contains everything which we need to write in an exam about education
beat.
Komal Singh
Department of journalism
This is an extremely detailed article, Himani! I especially appreciate how you added the point about how reporters should 'Do no harm' in the Ethics section, often we see this get overlooked. A reporter covering Education should always be careful to not to unnecessarily expose or traumatise the children involved in the reporting process!
– Mamta Kumari