Awards, storytelling tips, and some unexpected 🔥🔥🔥 at the executive board session. Day 1 of #EWA20 did *not* disappoint.
As always, EWA’s Emily Richmond has been doing some fun livetweeting.
AWARDS WINNERS & SHOP TALKS
For most participants, the highlights were the announcement of the winners for Single-Topic News, Feature Stories, Beat Reporting, Investigative Reporting, Public Service, Audio Storytelling, and Visual Storytelling. See the full list of winners here, including the LA Times’ Sonali Kohli and EdWeek’s Stephen Sawchuk.
Between the winners and the 55 finalists, there’s a lot of amazing stuff in there. And the subsequent “shop talk” sessions during which honorees described how they pulled off their amazing stories were a pleasure to see.
“Inspired to hear my colleague Dylan McCoy talking about approaching folks at fast food restaurants, in parks and in front of housing complexes to bring student and family voices to this data-based project,” tweeted Chalkbeat’s Mila Koumpilova.
“Loved hearing Casey Parks talk about reporting this crucial, revealing story on the failures of a charter school… not to mention #journalism ethics & racial justice, tweeted writer Katherine Lewis.
FRANK TALK ABOUT RACE AT THE MEMBERS MEETING
EWA staff and board members at yesterday’s annual members meeting.
Usually, the session during which the executive meeting of the Education Writers Association gives its annual update on what the organization has been up to is a humdrum affair during which staff and board members (above) talk about budgets, personnel, and projects.
But this year, the session was being held virtually rather than in person, and it was the first event of the annual conference. Perhaps most important, the meeting was taking place in the middle of a nationwide reckoning over race, journalism, and everything else. So things didn’t go like they usually did.
While the initial presentations were being made, freelance writer Melinda Anderson posted a question in the chat box about EWA’s recent publication of a Reporter’s Guide for Inclusive Coverage: “I have a comment and a question re the guide for inclusive coverage,” wrote Anderson. “EWA produced this guide in conjunction with a white male journalism professor from Michigan State University. The organizational ‘face’ of the guide thus far has been a white male NPR producer. I find this questionable when EWA has journalists of color as members who could’ve been commissioned to consult on — and contribute to – this project. This is more than an issue of optics. Please explain the thinking that went into the planning and delivery of this guide. Thanks.”
As an organization, EWA has been working on diversity issues for a number of years now. However, EWA has struggled at times to make progress. And EWA staffers and board members initially gave vague and somewhat defensive answers, even when pressed for a more direct response. It wasn’t very satisfactory, and participants let them know it. Eventually, board member Debbie Veney addressed the question head-on, noting that the question was tough but fair and that Anderson had raised a good point. “In retrospect, I think that we probably should have thought a lot more about the racial composition of the authors of the report, not just the quality of the work. These are the times that we’re living in right now; we’re all being asked to do more.”
“Thank you, Deborah,” wrote Anderson. “I greatly appreciate your candor and acknowledgement!” Former AP reporter Dorie Turner Nolt wrote that she hoped frank discussions about EWA’s leadership would continue. “This has been a concern for a long time, but we need to have these discussions frankly, with no fragility involved.”
ROOM RATINGS, PLATFORM OPTIONS, AND PREVIEW OF THE DAY
Watch out! Toppo will rate your background, virtual or otherwise.
Follow Greg Toppo for lighthearted observations on the bookcases, artwork, and fixtures that can be seen behind panelists during their sessions. Its a riff on the pandemic-popular room rater Twitter accounts that have been describing decor and bookshelf titles behind talking heads on cable news shows.
You can watch the #EWA20 panels from inside what I’m going to call the EWA platform (ie, Pathable) or via Zoom (if there’s a button on the bottom of the screen allowing that). Each platform has different viewing options. But far as I’ve been able to tell the session comments are only to be found inside the EWA platform, not Zoom, and they seem to disappear when the session is over. And so far as I can see neither platform has a Twitter plugin, so you’ll need a phone or extra monitor for all your #EWA20 livetweeting.
All in all, it was a good start to the conference, and I’m looking forward to today’s sessions. Today’s must-see panels feature folks like Nikole Hannah-Jones, Chastity Pratt, Sarah Carr, and Mila Koumpilova. My recommendations are here. The full agenda is here. Enjoy!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexander Russo
Alexander Russo is founder and editor of The Grade, an award-winning effort to help improve media coverage of education issues. He’s also a Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship winner and a book author. You can reach him at @alexanderrusso.
Visit their website at: https://the-grade.org/
