Have you ever heard the old saying “keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer?”Many classroom teachers and school administrators more often than not criticize education writers as not knowing enough about what really happens everyday in the trenches. I’ve critisized certain journalists as well with my own verbal diatribes.
So, instead of critisizing them why not join them…..the Education Writer’s Association, that is.
Their website states “the Education Writers Association is the national professional organization of education reporters. The EWA was organized in 1947 by a group of newspaper reporters with the intent of improving education reporting to the public.
Today the EWA has more than one thousand members throughout the United States and Canada. Active members include reporters from print and broadcast media. Associate members include school and college public information officers and writers who work for educational institutions and organizations.
Classroom teachers can also join the organization as Associate members for $65 per year.
Visit the website for links to various current articles by education writers on a myriad of hot topics.
2 comments:
Hi. Paul Baker here at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin Madison. As an associate member of Education Writers Association I'm happy to see you're encouraging people to learn about EWA and to consider joining. I am a university based communicator and have attended a couple of EWA conferences and gotten to know some reporters personally. I can tell you that the typical EWA member is bright and articulate and passionate about promoting public education. They are our allies. These are serious people; professionals in their field. Remember that there are lots of reporters who happen to write about education who don't know much about the subject. You will not find this kind of reporter among EWA members. They choose to write about education rather than any number of other topics, often for lower pay than they might otherwise receive. Of course, in the case of controversial issues, it is common for a newspaper story to rub someone the wrong way, because we all have strong feelings about education. That is to be expected. In the case of factual error, on the other hand, that is not acceptable and the reporter should be contacted and corrected. And do remember that a large number of education stories in newspapers are written by reporters who are not EWA members and who quite honestly don't have much knowledge of K-12 education. Sorry to say, but there is a very wide range of expertise among reporters who write about education. Yes, learn about EWA and talk to local reporters. They would appreciate your contact and you could do them a favor by helping them learn.
Paul Baker
www.wcer.wisc.edu
Thanks for stopping by, Paul. I'm glad you did and I enjoyed finding out more about the EWA.
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