It’s always interesting to me to hear education journalists talk about how they came to the beat or how they feel about it. That’s why I’ve enjoyed interviewing so many reporters and editors this past year (with lots more to come).
For some insight into how the NYT’s education reporter Motoko Rich thinks about education, check out her official bio, which lists a long set of other beats she’s covered and tells us that Rich “believes all these beats are ultimately connected, and welcomes ideas, comments, referrals, anxieties and constructive criticism.”
The notion that other beats – book publishing, real estate — might be connected to education is an interesting one, and the line about how she welcomes “anxieties” as well as ideas and constructive criticism is explained a bit at the end of the latest EWA Radio interview, during which Rich tells interviewer Emily Richmond about how readers’ feelings about schools are intense and often anxiety-laden.
Her answer in part: “This is a topic that touches most people where they live… I think that our work is enriched by knowing about peoples’ personal experiences… This is about peoples’ lives.”
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/
