Based on Media Cloud’s database of top news outlets, the number of mainstream news media stories about schools and COVID-19 rebounded last week, after three consecutive weeks of decline.
But the increase was a small one.
The 1,615 stories from April 12 – 18 was just 4 percent higher than the 1,557 stories about schools and COVID-19 that ran during the week of April 4 – 11.
These changes are depicted by the blue bar in the graph below.
Stories about schools and COVID-19 increased not only in number but also as a percentage of all stories about COVID-19.
Last week, 7.5 percent of all stories about COVID-19 mentioned schools, an increase from 6.7 percent the prior week.
Above: To see the details for yourself, go here.
To put these numbers in context, last week’s numbers are still considerably lower than those from mid-March, both in terms of quantity and in terms of the percentage of overall COVID-19 stories.
The number of stories about COVID-19 and schools peaked at 3,723 during the week of March 15 -21. The percentage of COVID-19 stories that mentioned schools peaked at 14.6 percent the prior week.
COVID-related education stories by top mainstream news outlets are represented by the green line in the graph below.
Previous coverage:
Continued drop-off in mainstream coverage of the national school shutdown April 13
School-related COVID-19 coverage fell again last week — we think April 6
How mainstream COVID-19 schools coverage surged — then fell March 31
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Grade
Launched in 2015, The Grade is a journalist-run effort to encourage high-quality coverage of K-12 education issues.
