Reporting education: how can we do it better?

Abstract

News coverage of education has grown in prominence and influence in recent decades, as education has emerged as a key political issue throughout the world. Although education reporting has tended to be overlooked as a topic of inquiry among media studies and journalism scholars, it has increasingly been the focus of researchers in the field of education. A number of studies have made conclusions about the influence and impact of the news coverage of education, yet researchers have rarely considered how the frequently raised concerns about the nature of the coverage may be addressed. This article aims to provide some insights and recommendations based on the interviews with 25 Australian schoolteachers. The study was guided by the following research question: How do the Australian teachers perceive the news coverage of education? This article focuses on the main themes to emerge in relation to their key concerns about the nature of education reporting and their suggestions for changes and improvements. These findings are contextualized within the relevant literature, and implications and recommendations for journalism practice and journalism education are outlined.