Those not immersed in the field of education might believe the recent attention to Common Core and teacher evaluations came out of nowhere. With the exception of items that are unavoidable, such as the nonrenewal of the superintendent’s contract, local news reporting has trended glossy on education, biased toward the status quo which goes by the name “education reform.”
Last month, the Hartford Courant and Hartford Public Schools announced the plan to partner, specifically with the Journalism Academy. The details on this, along with potential price tag, are still being hashed out.
Already, HPS has contracts with Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Inc.
With such partnerships, there are a few clear winners.
Young folks are groomed by professionals and are given access to resources to gain hands-on experience.
The media outlets benefit through the promise of funding, important in a time when many are desperate for revenue sources. During the first fiscal year of CPBI’s contract with HPS regarding the Journalism and Media Academy Magnet School, the Board was responsible for ensuring that the television station received $664,374. Each subsequent year under contract, HPS will pay CPBI a similar amount. This money is tied to the Journalism Academy’s “satellite campus,” the Learning Lab located at CPBN/WNPR, 1049 Asylum Avenue. This space cost CPBI $3.5 million to create. Under contract with Hartford Public Schools, its use is not limited to students from the Journalism Academy.
Connecticut Public Broadcasting has an additional contract for its “Media is Magic” program at America’s Choice at SAND School. CPBI established a PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Lab at the school in 2012. The contract with HPS for SAND pays $90,000 to CPBI.
Who else wins? Those who do not want critical reporting on the Hartford Public Schools. A source from inside WNPR has informed Real Hartford that one of its most reputable reporters was slapped on the wrist by CPBI for trying to investigate a school story a few years ago.
NPR’s guiding principles claim that reporters should strive to be “independent and impartial” with journalism being “accurate, fair, and complete as possible.” The principles, in more detail, claim that “Under no circumstances do we skew our reports for personal gain, to help NPR’s bottom line or to please those who fund us,” yet we know from sources at WNPR, certain funders pressure the station for more of a particular type of content, namely that related to health. Even with quality journalists, that reporting is squashed by the conflicts of interest presented.
Now, the Hartford Courant is looking to join up with the Hartford Public Schools. Already, the only place perspectives contrary to the status quo are published regularly and in context there is in the opinion section, though the paper itself has lofty goals such as raising “issues aggressively and constructively, and [exposing] inefficiency, injustice and corruption in matters of public interest” and extending “the circle of public debate as widely as possible, by reflecting the diversity of Connecticut’s people and by seeking out voices that often are ignored.”
Do the children benefiting from such arrangements do so enough to justify the loss experienced when it comes to reporting boldly on injustice and corruption? Or is it just time to revise those goals and guiding principles?
When the Media Teams Up with Public Schools
Those not immersed in the field of education might believe the recent attention to Common Core and teacher evaluations came out of nowhere. With the exception of items that are unavoidable, such as the nonrenewal of the superintendent’s contract, local news reporting has trended glossy on education, biased toward the status quo which goes by the name “education reform.”
Last month, the Hartford Courant and Hartford Public Schools announced the plan to partner, specifically with the Journalism Academy. The details on this, along with potential price tag, are still being hashed out.
Already, HPS has contracts with Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Inc.
With such partnerships, there are a few clear winners.
Young folks are groomed by professionals and are given access to resources to gain hands-on experience.
The media outlets benefit through the promise of funding, important in a time when many are desperate for revenue sources. During the first fiscal year of CPBI’s contract with HPS regarding the Journalism and Media Academy Magnet School, the Board was responsible for ensuring that the television station received $664,374. Each subsequent year under contract, HPS will pay CPBI a similar amount. This money is tied to the Journalism Academy’s “satellite campus,” the Learning Lab located at CPBN/WNPR, 1049 Asylum Avenue. This space cost CPBI $3.5 million to create. Under contract with Hartford Public Schools, its use is not limited to students from the Journalism Academy.
Connecticut Public Broadcasting has an additional contract for its “Media is Magic” program at America’s Choice at SAND School. CPBI established a PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Lab at the school in 2012. The contract with HPS for SAND pays $90,000 to CPBI.
Who else wins? Those who do not want critical reporting on the Hartford Public Schools. A source from inside WNPR has informed Real Hartford that one of its most reputable reporters was slapped on the wrist by CPBI for trying to investigate a school story a few years ago.
NPR’s guiding principles claim that reporters should strive to be “independent and impartial” with journalism being “accurate, fair, and complete as possible.” The principles, in more detail, claim that “Under no circumstances do we skew our reports for personal gain, to help NPR’s bottom line or to please those who fund us,” yet we know from sources at WNPR, certain funders pressure the station for more of a particular type of content, namely that related to health. Even with quality journalists, that reporting is squashed by the conflicts of interest presented.
Now, the Hartford Courant is looking to join up with the Hartford Public Schools. Already, the only place perspectives contrary to the status quo are published regularly and in context there is in the opinion section, though the paper itself has lofty goals such as raising “issues aggressively and constructively, and [exposing] inefficiency, injustice and corruption in matters of public interest” and extending “the circle of public debate as widely as possible, by reflecting the diversity of Connecticut’s people and by seeking out voices that often are ignored.”
Do the children benefiting from such arrangements do so enough to justify the loss experienced when it comes to reporting boldly on injustice and corruption? Or is it just time to revise those goals and guiding principles?
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