Education journalism shapes public perception of teachers and, as a result, policy priorities—intertwining the media, K-12 education, and the contours of teaching in significant ways. To foster more insightful journalism, Public Agenda’s project Teachers in the News provides an unprecedented analysis of education media coverage, as well as findings from both a survey of teachers and parents and interviews with teachers and journalists.

The media analysis of education journalism includes thousands of articles published from 2009 to 2020 in five national and five local newspapers. Thousands of teachers and parents shared their attitudes toward media coverage and priorities for supporting teachers through our survey. In nine video interviews, teachers and journalists reflect on what these findings mean for the future of education and news.