The Vanishing Higher-Education Reporter

Overview & Synopsis

As the Internet continues to drain readers and advertising, newspapers are left with no choice but to cut back on coverage. Many papers have settled on higher education as an expendable beat. At the National Education Writers Association, which represents education reporters and editors around the country, the e-mail list for elementary- and secondary-school reporters buzzes with activity while the higher-education list lies mostly moribund. Coverage of elementary and secondary schools is closer to readers' hearts, editors argue. Higher education, by contrast, generally operates better and involves lots of out-of-town students. So out goes the higher-education coverage. At many papers, the only reporters covering colleges and universities write about basketball and football. Also lost from diminished local reporting about colleges and universities are the contributions that local newspapers can make to national reporting on higher education. Just about the biggest scandal in higher education in recent years, the revelation of improper relationships between colleges and student-aid lenders, was partly reported by regional reporters. For all those reasons, college leaders have powerful incentives to put together their best arguments for continued local coverage--admissions concerns, economic impact, cultural events, educated work force--and request a sit-down with the managing editor and city editor.