Covering Higher Ed in the Age of COVID-19

Higher ed looks completely different now than it did just six months ago. There’s widespread uncertainty over schools reopening in the fall, a long-overdue reawakening of efforts to fight systemic racism, a nation staring down the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and a high-stakes presidential election nearly three months away. The impact of each of these national crises expose numerous fault lines in our higher education system and in students’ livelihoods.

So, how do journalists keep you when there’s almost too much news to print? What’s it like reporting on higher education during a global pandemic? What are journalists hearing on the ground from students, staff, and administrators? And which stories should be getting more attention?

For a look behind the story, Third Way’s Senior Education Communications Manager, Nicole Siegel, hosted a conversation with Danielle Douglas – Gabriel of The Washington Post, Elissa Nadworny of NPR, and Lindsay Ellis of The Chronicle of Higher Education for an on-the-record conversation about what covering higher education is really like.