notes on legacy media education coverage
Eight years ago, President-elect Donald Trump nominated school choice advocate Betsy DeVos for secretary of education. Within days, major media outlets seemed intent on competing to see who could slime her most aggressively. That pretty much set the pace for her tenure.
Trump has now nominated a new secretary of education, former Small Business Administration chief and pro-wrestling executive Linda McMahon. And, right on schedule, after four years of fawning coverage of Miguel Cardona’s nomination and acquiescent treatment of his misbegotten tenure, education journalists have rediscovered their taste for ad hominem invective.
Of course, journalists should scrutinize a prospective secretary of education. They should ask hard questions about a nominee’s experience, knowledge, and character. But that scrutiny is only useful when it’s intent on truth. And that requires a consistent standard for reporting on nominees, a commitment to distinguishing established facts from unsupported allegations, and a belief that readers should hear from both critics and champions of a nominee.
Unfortunately, on each count, it’s fair to say that the press is failing abysmally. Again.
Education journalists, is @rickhess99 wrong in arguing that coverage of Republican Ed Sec’s has been far more critical than of Dems?
Because, from what I can tell, he’s right on the money.
