Invisible: 1.4 Percent Coverage for Education is Not Enough Darrell M. West, Grover J. “Russ” Whitehurst, and E.J. Dionne Jr. Methodology • Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism - Coded content daily from a sample of newspapers, network news, cable news, news and talk radio, and online news - Samples are purposeful rather than representative - Selection bias for important stories • Brookings: coded content of all AP education wire stories • Brookings: qualitative study of blogs and local newspapers Newspapers Online Network TV Cable Radio Yahoo news ABC Good CNN daytime NPR Morning Edition NY Times Morning America MSNBC.com ABC World News Situation Room Rush Limbaugh Washington Post Tonight Wall Street Journal NYTimes.com NBC Today Show Anderson Cooper 360 Ed Schultz USA Today Google news NBC Nightly News Lou Dobbs Randi Rhodes washingtonpost.com CBS The Early CNN Prime Time Michael Savage LA Times Show cnn.com CBS Evening MSNBC daytime Sean Hannity Kansas City Star News Pittsburgh Post- aol news PBS Newshour Hardball ABC News Gazette Headlines San Antonio foxnews.com Rachel Maddow CBS News Express-News Headlines San Jose Mercury USAtoday.com The Ed Show News Herald News abcnews.com Countdown Anniston Star BBC News Fox News special Spokesman-Review Reuters.com Fox News daytime Meadville Tribune O'Reilly Factor Fox Report with Shepard Smith Hannity (TV) Special Report w/ Bret Baier Government National News Coverage 2009 Economics Foreign (non-U.S.) U.S. Foreign affairs 12 Health/Medicine Business Crime 10 Campaign/Elections/Politics Domestic Terrorism U.S. Misc. 8 Lifestyle Additional domestic affairs Celebrity/entertainment % 6 Race/Gender/Gay issues Disasters/accidents Court/Legal system 4 Media Environment education Science/Technology Sports 2 Education Defense/military (domestic) Transportation 0 Immigration Religion school finance/budget cutbacks Education by Topic 2009 politics in education swine flu or health economic stimulus package 12.00% other education reform (general) 10.00% student financial aid strip searches/privacy issues 8.00% human interest story curricular reform 6.00% school testing or testing results tuition 4.00% positive education messages admissions 2.00% career prospects special needs students teacher pay/teacher shortages 0.00% dropout rates/graduation rates Education Topic by Sector 30 newspapers 25 20 online 15 network tv 10 cable tv 5 radio 0 politics in special needs education swine finance education students reform flu/health Associated Press vs. Other Media 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 AP 6 4 Other Media 2 0 politics in international crime at scandals accidents education education school Summary • Education receives scant national media coverage as an important story • Much education coverage has little to do with learning and instruction, e.g., flu, accidents, scandals, budgets • There are differences across media sectors in focus, e.g., cable TV & politics; newspapers & finance • Education research is missing in action • New media is a sector with substantial innovation, but it is the wild west in terms of editorial standards and it serves niche markets .