A parent journalist shares back-to-school tips on how to work more effectively with education reporters in a social media environment that has become increasingly toxic.
By Amy Silverman
I cracked on a Friday afternoon.
It was the end of a very long week in early August, the first week of school for my daughter, a high school senior in Arizona, a state that has outlawed mask mandates. Sophie had gone to school in a mask every day that week, but I didn’t have much confidence that she’d kept it on — or that any of her peers or teachers wore masks. Sophie is fully vaccinated. But, because she has Down syndrome, we don’t know if her immune system has responded well enough to the shots to keep her safe.
I was exhausted, terrified, and desperate for information. Would a mask mandate happen against the governor’s wishes? Were COVID numbers rising? What about breakthrough cases?
I checked Twitter constantly. And then a local journalist tweeted cryptically late Friday that she’d just talked to a school district that had mysteriously deleted the COVID dashboard on its website, the public source for information about active cases at specific schools, I lost it – and tweeted:
Which district? (I’m guessing you are saving this for a story — and also that you are not a parent with a kid in an Arizona public school who sees these things as life/death.)
I hit “tweet,” then immediately decided that I better take myself off Twitter for the foreseeable future.
As a parent, I understand the toll the pandemic has taken on our collective mental health. It doesn’t feel right to keep my kid at home, but it doesn’t feel safe to send her to school, and it’s my job to pave the way for her to live her best life.
But as a journalist, I also knew that I was blaming the wrong person. It was highly unlikely this reporter was tweeting about my kid’s district. And, in any case, she’s not responsible for the governor’s irresponsible actions or school administrators’ poor communication.
I’m not alone in placing the blame where it doesn’t belong.
Parents and others have increasingly engaged in toxic treatment of journalists on social media this past year, tearing down the people they are relying on to report on what’s happening in our education system.
I see the attacks go on all day, particularly with regard to education journalism. It’s brutal.
The display of bad manners is nothing new. I’ve been seeing this behavior for years from parents advocating for kids with disabilities.
But, like a lot of things, it’s definitely intensified since early 2020. And it’s a remarkably unhelpful and ineffective way to get answers and improve education reporting.
The display of bad manners is nothing new. I’ve been seeing this behavior for years from parents advocating for kids with disabilities.
In coming up with a list of ways parents can better interact with education reporters to help tell the truth about what’s really going on in schools, I consulted several other journalists, including my husband. Many of these tips will seem pretty obvious, but as a parent who’s gotten caught up in the moment myself, I think they’re worth sharing.
Follow the golden rule
My first tip is the same thing I tell my kids (and myself, though I don’t always listen):
Follow the golden rule and treat others the way you would want to be treated.
It goes both ways.
Here’s the truth. Families need good education journalists. Education journalists need good families. Parents are an invaluable resource. Schools are not only physical fortresses these days, they’ve also managed to build walls that keep information in. Federal laws like FERPA and HIPPA prohibit sharing a lot (but not everything, as some will have you believe) and there are other general privacy concerns for both students and faculty.
That makes schools a breeding ground for everything from inappropriate seclusion of a student to embezzlement of school funds, information that few are privy to. Which is why parents and education reporters need each other.
A parent who insults a journalist incessantly and unfairly is eventually going to get tuned out. But a parent who is capable of both criticism and praise will get a lot further. If a journalist publishes something you like, tell them.
Know/establish ground rules
If you decide to go ahead and speak with a reporter, do your best to find one who covers education and understands the beat. General assignment and breaking news reporters, as well as TV reporters, generally don’t specialize in schools and only get involved during crises.
If a reporter contacts you and you’re not familiar with them, do some homework: Google them, read their past work, look at their Twitter feed. Once you’ve decided you’re cool with them, establish ground rules.
Don’t assume that you are “off the record” or “on background.” The assumption in journalism is actually the opposite. Ask a reporter if you can first speak off the record – and proceed if they say yes. Same goes for anything written. Do not send a reporter an email with juicy information in it and tell them it’s off the record; you need to establish that before you send the email. Define with the reporter what “off the record” and “on background” mean. They often mean different things to sources and reporters, so make sure you’re both on the same page.
When and if you decide to go on the record, make clear what you are comfortable sharing, and find out what this journalist’s fact-checking process is. You can’t demand that a reporter show you a story before publication, but you can ask that they read back the quotes they want to use from you and run by any statistics or other facts you provided.
Most news outlets frown on anonymous sources, but you can ask if that’s an option.
Decide whether you want to be in the story
Decide ahead of time if you want your child included in the story.
Typically, this won’t be a deal breaker. But, depending on the subject, it could be. In any case, a good journalist will ask – not to invade your family’s privacy, but because it’s more compelling if you can capture the voice of the actual subject of the story.
If your child got hurt because they were unsupervised on the playground, a photo of the banged-up kid and a quote from them will make the story resonate. That said, it’s up to you to decide if that’s best for your child. Remember, once something is on the Internet, you aren’t going to be able to make it go away.
It’s also important to note that if you can’t go on the record, there might not be a story. Not one the journalist can do, anyway. Danyelle Khmara, the education reporter for the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, spent a great deal of time last year trying to track down a story about schools that were not enforcing mask rules or following other COVID safety precautions. Ultimately, Khmara was able to get ahold of publicly filed grievances. That, along with the sheer number of people complaining on background, wound up being enough. But there was much more that she was unable to confirm. It was a frustrating experience for Khmara. “I wasted a lot of time trying to find someone to get something on the record,” she says.
Document your story
If you have uncovered a scandal at your kid’s school, make a list of other parents (and interested parties) who might be willing to speak about it. Even better: Ask them ahead of time if they’re willing to speak on the record. If the topic is super sensitive, look for documentation on paper: Is there a lawsuit? Are there police reports? Other public records where the information is presented? If so, you can point the journalist to the goods and stay out of it.
No matter what, focus on the facts, says Lisa Davis, a longtime journalist and lecturer in the communication department at University of Santa Clara (we worked together at a newspaper many years ago). She’s covered education for much of her career and, as the mother of two (almost) grown sons, she understands it from both sides.
“No one is more emotional about anything than their child,” Davis says, and that’s where things can go wrong. “When a journalist hits emotion without fact, the trust runs out.”
To that end, Davis says, make sure you’ve got the goods – and acknowledge when you don’t.
“This is not the time to exaggerate for a sell. Tell me, `This is what I know and how I know it. This is what I think, but don’t know.’”
It also can’t hurt to provide documents and even photos or videos to back up your claims.
“No one is more emotional about anything than their child,” Davis says, and that’s where things can go wrong. “When a journalist hits emotion without fact, the trust runs out.”
Remember you’re the expert – on your kid
I see this so often – and it’s happened to me. You’re deep in it with your kid. Let’s say they have ADHD and you’ve researched the heck out of the best education models and supports and you know the special education laws backward and forward.
Chances are, you know way more about this subject area than your local paper’s education reporter. Don’t get mad, don’t tweet about how uninformed the reporter is or how bad the publication is for ignoring the issue. Do your best to explain to the journalist why this area is important and impacts not just your child but others – and how. If you can become a valuable source of information to a reporter, answering questions and helping them find answers, you’re more likely to get them to cover something you think is important later on.
When errors arise, contact the reporter first
If there’s a factual error in a story, call the reporter and ask for a correction. And conversely, if you don’t like something you should say so. But consider how you do it. First, if you can find things you like about a piece as well as things you don’t like, you are more likely to have a constructive conversation. If you’re furious, you can dispense with the niceties. But don’t make social media your first stop.
In the moment, it might feel great to let the reporter have it publicly. And they may well deserve your ire. But if this is a journalist in your community, who covers your kid’s school, chances are they aren’t going anywhere soon. Do you really want to make an enemy?
Try calling the reporter and explaining your position and see if you can have a meaningful discussion. If there’s a factual error, point that out (provide evidence) and ask for a correction. If you don’t hear back soon, contact their editor. If you don’t hear back after that – tell the world. There’s definitely a time and a place for Twitter. If the issue is more one of tone or focus, try calling the reporter for a calm discussion of why you’re disappointed.
As for my own angry tweet, the journalist with the coy tweet about the mystery COVID dashboard did respond, saying that she’s a reporter, not an activist, and not responsible for sharing that information, and that she had been trying to figure out why that dashboard was down.
Not the best answer, but not really worth screeching about on social media – or anywhere else.
Also by Amy Silverman for The Grade:
How to quote more students with disabilities in education news
