"Education journalism is surprisingly well positioned to demonstrate how to cover the news in a way that doesn’t demoralize and alienate readers."

"The world is on fire. Inflation is spiraling out of control. A new variant of COVID is roaring back. The Supreme Court has gone rogue, and the Jan. 6 hearings have uncovered morale-crushing news about the former administration.

"So it’s understandable that Amanda Ripley’s Washington Post opinion piece denouncing the news industry for being unnecessarily negative didn’t receive a particularly large or warm reception when it came out last week."

"...In her July 8 op-ed, the author and longtime journalist confessed that she had begun actively avoiding the news — not because the world is in such bad shape, but because media coverage has become unnecessarily and relentlessly negative.

"Ripley is not alone among journalists who don’t read as much news as they used to or as you might expect them to. I know of several who feel alienated about the news they see — and sometimes about the coverage that they’re producing.

"In the meantime, many non-journalists (i.e., readers) have also begun avoiding the news, a trend that should worry even the most fervent adherents of how journalism is currently being practiced."

"And, hard as it may be to believe, Ripley’s column suggests that the education beat is well positioned to steer journalism towards a new, better, and more reader-popular way of informing the public.

"Some education reporters, teams, and outlets are already showing how it can be done. And if they’re right, then perhaps the education beat can help save journalism." - Alexander Russo