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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > April > 26 > Entry
New ed blog looks like a winner
I’m really pleased to recommend a new education blog by a fine education reporter. It’s called Gradebook and it’s authored by Miami Herald education reporter Matthew I. Pinzur.
Matthew writes about all sorts of interesting stuff for the Herald, thanks partly to his good journalism instincts and partly to the fact that education in Florida is really wacky. His first few posts are interesting and I think he will really add something to the education blogosphere. Check him out.
With Gradebook, that brings the total number of mainstream media (or MSM) blogs to … five. And Miami is just the second top 25 newspaper to launch a blog. I’m surprised more papers, especially the big papers, aren’t trying ed blogs. The education beat is a perfect match for blogging, I think. I’m sure we’re going to see more of them spring up over the next year or so.
Want to see what education blogs look like at other papers? Here’s my take on what’s out there:
- Get Schooled by Patti Ghezzi of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Patti’s blog, in my opinion, is the best MSM blog for several reasons. First, it’s a true blog with give and take and LOTS of reader feedback. When Patti really hits on a topic, she routinely gets more than 100 comments. I’ve seen her get well over 200 on her hottest topics! She writes a lot about Georgia, where a lot is going on education-wise, but she also touches on national issues. And Patti’s blog has personality without going over the edge, which I find refreshing. For an example look at yesterday’s post where she poked fun at a search firm who delivered a superintendent candidate in DeKalb County who lied on his resume and had a criminal record.
- Chalkboard by Jennifer Fernandez and now Morgan Josey, education reporters at the Greensboro News-Record.
This is the original pioneer MSM education blog, begun in 2004 by Fernandez and former News-Record reporter Bruce Buchannan. Chalkboard is intensely local, so it’s not always of interest to the casual blog reader. But what I like about Chalkboard is just that — it’s a blog that really speaks to its community and gets people involved with lots of comments. They’ve even experimented with live blogging at school board meetings. But if you’re looking for discussion of national education issues, look elsewhere.
- School Zone is wrtten by a team of education reporters at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
I was pleased to see the J-S start a blog because Milwaukee is one of the most interesting and important cities in the country when it comes to education. It is the birthplace of publicly funded vouchers and home to both a thriving charter school movement and a textbook case of a complex and troubled urban school system. School Zone is still feeling its way, though. Because it has many authors, the blog lacks a consistent voice or personality and it doesn’t allow comments, which is perplexing. But its new and developing, so I have high hopes for School Zone.
One other MSM site to check out is Class Struggle by Jay Mathews at the Washington Post. This is really more of an online column than a blog, and it also has no commenting. But Mathews is one of the best in the education writing biz, so he’s always an interesting read.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Journalism
Comments
By Patti Ghezzi
April 26, 2006 11:32 AM | Link to this
Scott, as we southern folk say, stop before my head gets as big as a watermelon. I’m still trying to catch up with Get on the Bus as far as original content, organized linkage and participating in the greater edblog community. Thanks for all your kind words! Patti