When Reporters Preach the Party Line :: Frederick M. Hess

When Reporters Preach the Party Line :: Frederick M. Hess:

When Reporters Preach the Party Line

For more than a decade, I've regarded my pal Richard Colvin as one of the nation's best education reporters. But even the best of us whiff sometimes. And Richard's most recent monthly column for the Phi Delta Kappan ("Movement even during inaction") is a whiff that also sharply illuminates the bias that colors so much education coverage today.

In a piece that doubles as an enthusiastic brief for President Obama's education efforts, Colvin serves up a raft of self-serving lines from Obama appointees and "independent" progressives. He quotes Amy Wilkins of Education Trust (the proudly liberal Children's Defense Fund spin-off) saying the Ed Trust used to "scream at Democrats and Republicans" but now "the Republicans have gone so crazy, there's no working with them." He reports that Carmel Martin, assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Education, "Encourages her team 'to make sure we're getting both sides of every issue and question.'" He quotes her saying, "We've tried to be balanced philosophically and politically in who we talk to." Colvin quotes no Republicans, Republican staff, or individuals associated with conservative organizations.

Now, let's be clear. I like Wilkins, Martin, and the others that Colvin quotes. Moreover, they're certainly free to