Tuesday, February 19, 2013

This Week In Education: Media: HuffPost Education Page, 2010-2013?

This Week In Education: Media: HuffPost Education Page, 2010-2013?:


Media: HuffPost Education Page, 2010-2013?


Attention Bootlicker ALERT!

Don't worry, all of you who like to have your education commentary appear on Huffington Post.  In that regard, at least, the Huffington Post Education page seems unchanged.  The HuffPost's education reporter, Joy Resmovits, is still pumping out stories.  Her blog, Ed Today, is here.   When it comes to other features, however, Huffington Post Education seems subtly but substantially different.  
The color scheme has changed to blue.  
The sub-pages -- education reform, teachers, etc. -- seem gone as well, at least in terms of what you can find from the main education page.  (You can find them here).
Most of all, the blog post items seem a bit more random -- tabloid stuff, or not quite education content.  A couple of weeks ago there was that post about DFER being a "conservative education group.")  
It's almost as if the site is on autopilot.  
That's exactly what might have happened, actually.  The page's blogger, Emmeline Zhao (Interview With A Blogger) seems no longer to be there.  
As you may remember, the page launched in October 2010 with some never-before-seen Harriett Ball video -- at first as a sponsored CauseCast page, then as a real, live vertical.  
There have been various controversies and concerns along the way, which I won't bother you with now.  
For some, the page has never been much of a destination.  The commentary always seemed weak and random -- sorry, everyone! The blog posts could be silly, and the underlying issues of not paying for content are nagging. 
For others -- including me -- the combination of high- and low-brow content, and the mix of pop culture and serious issues has been great.  The combination of a smart blogger like Zhao putting out 15 posts a day plus a reporter like Resmovits doing newsgathering seemed like a strong one.  So I'll be sad to see the page go, or continue on diminished, as seems to be the plan of action here.  
I've put a call into HuffPost for some answers, and will let you know what I find.