Inside 'A Fatal Field Trip'

Mandy McLaren of The Boston Globe claimed the title of "the nation's top education beat reporter," winning the Ronald D. Moskowitz Prize at  EWA's National Awards for Education Reporting ceremony during the 2025 National Seminar.  She joins EWA Public Editor Emily Richmond to discuss her nuanced and in-depth coverage of special education in Massachusetts, how she's balanced personal and professional challenges over the past few years, and why her seven years as an educator continue to shape and inform her journalism.

What should have been a routine trip home from a local zoo turned into the deadliest school bus crash in Texas' recent history. The crash left a 5-year-old boy and an adult dead, and dozens of other children suffered serious injuries and emotional trauma. How did this happen?   In an in-depth series, a reporting team from the Austin American-Statesman set off to answer several unanswered questions. Their deep investigation earned them the Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize at this year's National Awards for Education Reporting ceremony.  K-12 education reporter Keri Heath and Latino communities reporter Emiliano Tahui Gómez join EWA public editor Emily Richmond to discuss their award-winning work, which involved deep data mining to expose where the state's safety regulations for students and motorists fell short.

With the Education Writers Association's 78th National Seminar on the horizon, public editor Emily Richmond and veteran reporter Nicole Carr discuss how to make the most out of attending the nation's largest gathering of education journalists.  What's new this year in St. Louis, and how does the impressive roster of speakers and sessions reflect the fast-changing landscape on the education beat?  Hint: Both Nicole and Emily share their perspectives on revising a journalism course syllabus and the National Seminar agenda to help journalists meet the moment. Plus, get tips for networking, choosing your own (agenda) adventures and more.

President Donald Trump chose Linda McMahon, known best for her family's professional wrestling empire, to carry out his executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.  Linda Jacobson, senior writer for The 74 Million, talks with EWA Public Editor Emily Richmond about the new education secretary's agenda.  What do we know about McMahon's plans for the agency, which is responsible for managing billions of dollars in congressionally approved programs and services – including federal student loans? Where are the department's massive changes already having an impact on students, educators and school communities? How can journalists better cover these issues and the individuals most likely to feel the fallout?

Former evangelical insider Deborah Jian Lee explains how over 200 federally funded religious schools – with nearly one million students – exploit the religious exemption from Title IX, the federal policy that protects students from discrimination.  These schools violated the civil rights of Journey Mueller, who was forced out of her Christian college in Colorado, and countless LGBTQ+ students, all with the blessing of taxpayer dollars. "Persecution in the Name the Lord," which Jian Lee wrote for Esquire and Economic Hardship Reporting Project, won the EGF Accelerator's Eddie Prize at this year's National Awards for Education Reporting ceremony. Jian Lee, a senior editor with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, shares story ideas at the intersection of religion and higher education with EWA Public Editor Emily Richmond.

Laura Meckler, the award-winning national education reporter for The Washington Post, shares the top stories in her notebook for the coming academic year.  Hear why she's tracking cellphone bans, her advice for covering contentious school board elections, and how to put the so-called "culture wars" into context for your audiences.  She and EWA Public Editor Emily Richmond also discuss why K-12 reporters should be paying attention to civics classes and youth voters, and why expanding – and costly – school voucher programs should be on your radar this fall.

College presidents, campus protests and student debt: Oh my!  It's going to be a hectic academic year for many postsecondary institutions, as investigative reporter Michael Vasquez of The Chronicle of Higher Education explains.  He and EWA Public Editor Emily Richmond brainstorm on what they'd like to see reporters tackling this fall and into 2025. This includes community colleges, why enrollment downturns are an educational equity story and the expanding role of artificial intelligence.

For Talia Richman of The Dallas Morning News, there's no such thing as a slow news day.  Richman, recently named the nation's top education beat reporter at the EWA Awards, shares how she balances the daily grind of school board meetings with enterprise pieces and investigations. Plus, hear the backstory on how her remarkable profile of a Black girl's troubling journey through her middle school's discipline system became a radio essay for "This American Life."

In Newport News, Virginia, the Black-owned neighborhood of Johnson Terrace was a thriving community until government officials used eminent domain to seize the land and expand a university.  Brandi Kellam of the Virginia Center for Investigative Reporting at WHRO spent two years digging into archives and building trust with the Johnson family. Along with her VCIR colleague Louis Hansen and Gabriel Sandoval, formerly of ProPublica, Kellam won the 2023 Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize this year at EWA's National Awards for Education Reporting. She shares the backstory to the project and lessons for other journalists looking to combine historical research, data mining and narrative storytelling.

Kyra Miles of Minnesota Public Radio is one of a handful of reporters nationally on the early learning beat, which often gets short shrift when it comes to news coverage.  That's changed since the pandemic, amid greater awareness of how starkly the nation's child care needs are outstripping available –and affordable – providers. Kyra shares how she made the transition from the K-12 beat to early learning, and what's surprised her along the way.