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By Anthony Cody.

I am not sure who appointed Alexander Russo the chief scold of the education newsbeat,  but he has made it his business to criticize reporting in the field from his supposedly objective perch. Somehow, he almost always seems to be playing defense for one reform project or another.

In his latest column, he takes issue with coverage of the Trump administration’s proposed budget, and the kerfuffle that took place on Capitol Hill a couple of weeks ago. He focuses almost exclusively on one aspect of the story – the proposed cuts to Special Olympics. Of the grilling by Democrats of DeVos, he writes:

In and of itself, the back and forth was nothing new. Members of Congress routinely complain about proposed cuts to programs they favor. Everyone familiar with the process knows that it’s mostly theatrics, with lawmakers trying to score points.

Mistake number one. There was indeed something new in the back and forth. Lawmakers were reacting, in part, to a Network for Public Education report, Asleep at the Wheel, which found that as much as a billion dollars of federal funds have been wasted on charter schools that never even opened, or closed within a year or two.

A look at this video featuring Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro shows how seriously members of Congress took this information.

This report was real news, and it was carried as such by the Washington Post, which also made note of the report in its coverage of the hearing.

The money funneled into unaccountable charter schools OUGHT to be a big story, and so should the additional $5 billion DeVos wants to pour into “Freedom Scholarships.”

But Russo’s chief grievance is with the way the Special Olympics cuts turned into a major flashpoint for public outrage.

He writes:

Unfortunately, there seemed to be little if any curiosity in the reporting about how and why the story had blown up so unexpectedly or if anyone was coordinating the effort to push back against DeVos.

Social media can be a source of legitimate news that reporters wouldn’t find any other way, but it is also is continually gamed by advocates and trolls.

So this seems to be Russo’s beef. But he never provides any actual evidence that the Special Olympics controversy was somehow ginned up by “advocates and trolls.” They are a mystery he fails to solve.

He writes:

Coverage of the Special Olympics controversy tended to treat the social media firestorm as some sort of spontaneous, organic event.

It was only later on Thursday and Friday did broader, more nuanced stories begin to appear.

But I have read the more detailed stories that Russo points to, and none of them offer any evidence to support his suggestion that this was a ginned up controversy. Even though the cuts to Special Olympics were dwarfed by other cuts, this was not “fake news.” I was an advocate who was present at the hearing, and although I was unhappy with the cuts to Special Olympics, I was more focused on the charter school issue myself. The reason the cuts to the Special Olympics became such a flashpoint is that everyone loves them! They are emblematic of our concern for the most vulnerable, and for this administration to cut them off is a moral outrage to just about everyone.

In fact, I wound up being a part of a whole OTHER viral story that Russo doesn’t even mention – the moment when Lucille Roybal-Allard asks DeVos to explain her absurd belief that larger class sizes may benefit students. And although I am indeed an advocate (if not a troll) I had very little to do with this clip going viral — 8.4 million views at last count.

DeVos provokes a viral reaction because she is so emblematic of the Trump administration’s hostility to programs that matter to students, parents and teachers, and careless distribution of tax dollars to vouchers and unaccountable charter schools.

Of course whenever there are viral stories like these, nuances get lost, as Russo correctly observes. But his assertions about clandestine “advocates and trolls”ginning up controversy where none ought to exist are a bit like a weatherman complaining that someone’s fans are kicking up the wind. Believe me, I have TRIED to create and spread  viral videos in the past, and never had the sort of spread seen with these.

In the short list of advice he offers to reporters, #3 is this:

Find out where the outrage is coming from. There’s usually one or two “ground zero” social media accounts or posts. Who’s behind the story, and have they tried to revise or amend their initial comments?

Since this assertion is central to his thesis, how come he has not followed his own advice and uncovered who was behind the story? Who are these trolls and advocates that are responsible for this?

In reality, it was Congressman Marc Pocan who brought the issue forward, and who also shared video of the questioning on the subject via social media. From that point, so far as I could tell, the message was picked up and carried by people who care about the Special Olympics. If Russo has some other cabal of disabled advocates and trolls in mind, he should name them, and explain how one goes about detecting their apparently illegitimate influence.

While it is true that the cuts were only a proposal, we cannot become numb to the daily drip of outrageous offerings from this administration. The essential story was true, and when Trump reversed course, it was a rare victory for those who care about children.

Alexander Russo has a history of using his perch as self-appointed ethical minder of education journalism to “work the refs” working in media. Back in 2015 he scolded reporters for focusing on the many thousands of students choosing to opt out of high stakes tests instead of the cup half full – the millions of students who complied and took the tests.

There are several big storylines for reporters to dig into regarding DeVos. Public outrage should be a driver for investigation, but of course there are more complex stories to be revealed. Russo’s vague assertions about advocates and trolls should be challenged, since he produces no evidence to support them. As someone who presumes to advise other journalists, he might want to follow some of that advice himself, if he wants this warning to stick.

Featured image by Kimba Howard, used with Creative Commons license.

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Anthony Cody

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