Update: The Educated Reporter: The Higher Ed Beat: Ten Story Ideas on Technology and Innovation

The Educated Reporter: 'How I Did the Story': Award-Winning Higher Ed Reporters Share Their Skills:


The Higher Ed Beat: Ten Story Ideas on Technology and Innovation

It's been a busy year for higher education reporters, and the New Year promises plenty of challenging -- and important -- stories to cover. I thought it would be a good time to revisit one of our most popular sessions from EWA's National Seminar, held at Stanford University. Today's guest blogger is Delece Smith-Barrow of U.S. News & World Report. Stream any session from National Seminar in y

by Emily Richmond / 19min 

'How I Did the Story': Award-Winning Higher Ed Reporters Share Their Skills

Here's a little gift for the holidays: Advice from higher education reporters who won the top prizes in EWA's National Awards for Education Writing. They shared their perspectives with attendees at our 66th National Seminar, held at Stanford University. We asked Samantha Hernandez of the Door County Advocate to contribute today's guest post. Stream any session from National Seminar in your browser, or subscribe via RSS or iTunes. For more on higher education, visit EWA's Story Starters online resource. 

What do you need to write a prize-winning education story? Curiosity, patience and a lot of shoe leather.

Each of the presenters at the "How I Did the Story" session at EWA '13 said they spent significant time cultivating sources, talking to people, and tracking down documents. The topics of their winning work ranged from ranged from sexual assault to misconduct by university governing bodies. 

Jon Marcus of The Hechinger Report, who won second prize for beat reporting, discussed several of his articles, including one that he wrote about Montana State University, a small university that had seen an increase in college graduates.