It never fails.
All the good stuff pops up at the end. That's what has happened as I have read and searched and tried to understand the relationship between the news media and how policy develops.
I have revisited my journalism studies, looking specifically for information about 1) how journalists report on policy, especially education policy, and 2) more specifically, how the way journalists report on education policy affects the way policy is formed.
I also have read books about making policy, looking specifically for information about how policy makers -- widely defined -- use news media as a tool and/or view news media as a factor in the policy-making process.
What I have seen so far, leads me to believe a blind spot may exist.
Policy analysts tend to comment on what the news reports said -- but not on how the way the news was reported might affect the process. Journalists -- who, by the nature of their jobs, generally don't broadcast their introspections -- tend to look at what each other is reporting, how, and whether they can apply that to their local community.
As a result, each group plays the other and neither group is willing to acknowledge playing anything at all.
In an article in the International Journal of Leadership in Education, Stack (2010) put it this way, "Policy makers and journalists attempt to mobilize symbolic capital within and across their fields to be seen as having knowledge that is worthy of recognition" (p. 108).
Or as Kaniss put it, speaking specifically of reporters (but applicable to all of us) who have an innate desire to “write the most important story of the day and have it given the greatest prominence” (Kaniss, 1991, p. 73).
Look, for instance, at the Education Writers Association's Web site. Notice that the left rail features paid press release space, i.e., fodder from policy organizaitons for potential news stories they're hoping writers will pick up on. And here is the focus of the site, captured in a link to recent EWA contest winners:
How We Did the Story: Contest Winners Share Tips on Ed Beat
On Ed Beat, several winners of our 2010 contest have shared the process they used to bring their acclaimed stories to their readers. This is a great resource for writers on the ed beat to pick up pointers for their own reporting, and to gain new insight into the stories that shaped the national education conversation in 2010.
So where does that leave me with this particular several-week study and what else have I learned?
Last question first: As a result of this particular assignment, I have reacquainted myself with IMovie and its podcast-making capabilities. I was familiar with a previous version of IMovie – had even made some 3-5 minute videocasts – then, unknowingly, bought a newer version – and was suddenly stymied. I’m finding the newer version requires some coaxing, but I’m seeing the possibilities once again.
My journalistic curiosity has been reawakened. For a while, it was easier to let policy pass me by. I’m even considering watching the school board meetings again. Hardcore stuff. How that will figure in to children’s literature, I’m not sure.
Finally, I’ve been amazed at the multitude of well-developed online outlets that have sprung up over the last couple of years. I shouldn’t be, of course. With so many traditional news outlets trimming staff and with so many online opportunities for entrepreneurial types – and concerned citizen-stakeholders – the increase in online alternative coverage was bound to happen. In a previous post, I listed two. My final tally lists six – by next month there could be more.
Which leads me back to where I’m left at the end of this several-weeks study of the relationship between news media and education policy.
Answer? In two places:
1) I have a much better awareness of the myriad national and local second-tier news sources (view the list here) I need to monitor to have a more well-rounded picture of the education world in general and of education policy in particular, and
2) I have a focus for a deeper study of how the two worlds affect each other. The good stuff that came at the end is good, indeed, but it deserves its own study and not to be tacked on to the end of this one.
Stay tuned.
References:
Kaniss, P. (1991). Kaniss, P. (1991). Making Local News. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Making Local News. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Stack, M. L. (April-June 2010). Spin as symbolic capital: The fields of journalism and education policy-making. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 13(2), 107-119.
