American Blog Media and Teachers’ Unions

• In Event: Problematizing Discourse: Examples From Micro- to Macro-Levels

Abstract

More than ever, the relationships between media and educational issues need to be understood, particularly online media forms. This study examines the portrayals of teachers' unions by American education blog media between 2008-2010 using 100 randomly sampled articles. In addition to providing descriptive features of the education blog media landscape, the authors find that a blog bias against teachers' unions exists and that negative descriptions of teachers’ unions are more likely to be stronger and more direct than positive descriptions of teachers’ unions. Furthermore, most topics discussed in educational blog forms related to neoliberal reform efforts embracing accountability and achievement standards.

Authors

• Joseph Edward Luesse, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Terrenda Corisa White, Teachers College, Columbia University