Chalkbeat

{{Short description|Nonprofit news organization that covers education}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox organization | name = Chalkbeat | formation = 2014 | founder = Elizabeth Green | founding_location = New York City and Colorado<ref>{{cite news |title=What We Talk About When We Talk About Impact |url=https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19891533/Chalkbeat_White_Paper_on_Impact_042914.pdf |access-date=15 January 2021 |publisher=Chalkbeat}}</ref> | merger = Gotham Schools, EdNews Colorado | type = Non-profit organization | status =  | purpose =   | region_served = Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, Indiana, Newark, New York, Philadelphia, and Tennessee<ref name="About Chalkbeat official site"/> | language = English | board_of_directors = Jill Barkin, Elizabeth Green, Kang-Xing (KX) Jin, David Rousseau, Ann Sardini, Gideon Stein, Becca Van Dyck, Karen Wishart, Roberto Yañez<ref name="About Chalkbeat official site"/> | affiliations = Institute for Nonprofit News | website = {{URL|https://chalkbeat.org}} }} '''Chalkbeat''' is a non-profit news organization that covers education in several American communities.<ref name="EBSCOhost1">{{cite web |last=Peck |first=Gretchen |date=December 6, 2018 |title=Using Venture Philanthropy, American Journalism Project Seeks to Sustain Vital News Coverage |url=https://www.editorandpublisher.com/a-section/using-venture-philanthropy-american-journalism-project-seeks-to-sustain-vital-news-coverage/ |work=Editor & Publisher |access-date=November 14, 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114232348/https://www.editorandpublisher.com/a-section/using-venture-philanthropy-american-journalism-project-seeks-to-sustain-vital-news-coverage/|archivedate=2019-11-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/business/media/the-city-new-york-magazine.html |title=Website Revs Up, With New York Magazine's Help, to Cover More Local News |last=Peiser |first=Jaclyn |date=September 26, 2018 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=November 14, 2019 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Its mission is to "inform the decisions and actions that lead to better outcomes for children and families by providing deep, local coverage of education policy and practice."<ref name="LessonPlan">{{cite web |last=Yang |first=Nu |date=March 10, 2014|title=Lesson Plans |url=https://www.editorandpublisher.com/a-section/lesson-plans/ |work=Editor & Publisher |access-date=November 14, 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114232349/https://www.editorandpublisher.com/a-section/lesson-plans/ |archivedate=2019-11-14}}</ref> It aims to cover "the effort to improve schools for all children, especially those who have historically lacked access to a quality education".<ref name="About Chalkbeat official site">{{cite web |title=About Chalkbeat |url=https://www.chalkbeat.org/pages/about |website=Chalkbeat |access-date=15 January 2021 |language=en |date=6 April 2020}}</ref> Its areas of focus include under-reported stories, education policy, equity, trends, and local reporting.<ref name="CJR">{{cite web|last=Steussy|first=Lauren|date=July 19, 2016|title=How Chalkbeat is trying to build a bigger audience for education news|url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/chalkbeat_education_news_local_sites_national_story.php|access-date=November 14, 2019|website=Columbia Journalism Review}}</ref>

Chalkbeat was founded as GothamSchools in 2008 by Elizabeth Green and Philissa Cramer. It merged with EdNews Colorado, founded by Alan Gottlieb, in 2013, and then redesigned and relaunched the website as Chalkbeat one year later.<ref name="LessonPlan" /><ref name="GothamSchools politico">{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/media/story/2014/01/gothamschools-grows-goes-national-001511/ |title=GothamSchools grows, goes national |last=Bhuiyan |first=Johana |website=POLITICO Media |date=January 7, 2014 |access-date=November 14, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Caroline |last=O'Donovan |url=https://www.niemanlab.org/2014/01/start-small-plan-big-how-two-nonprofit-education-sites-came-together-to-build-a-network/ |title=Start small, plan big: How two nonprofit education sites came together to build a network |website=Nieman Lab |date=January 13, 2014|access-date=November 14, 2019}}</ref>

In 2020, Chalkbeat created Votebeat, a similar newsroom focused on local election rules and processes, before restructuring under the parent organization Civic News Company in 2023 and adding Healthbeat in 2024.

== History == Chalkbeat began as a merger of GothamNews/GothamSchools in New York City and EdNews Colorado in Denver.<ref name="LessonPlan"/><ref name="EdWeek">{{cite news |last=Walsh |first=Mark |date=August 4, 2015 |title=Chalkbeat Wields Web to Boost Local Ed.-News Coverage |url=https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/08/05/chalkbeat-wields-web-to-boost-local-ed-news.html |access-date=November 14, 2019 |newspaper=Education Week}}</ref> GothamSchools was founded in 2008 by Elizabeth Green and Philissa Cramer, who started off with a local New York City education blog.<ref name="GothamSchools politico"/> From the beginning, they received requests to expand their coverage to other parts of the country. The organization was initially funded by Open Plans, a technology non-profit founded by Mark Gorton.<ref name="GothamSchools politico"/> EdNews Colorado started as a magazine and was developed by Alan Gottlieb.<ref name="EdWeek Education News Network is Now Chalkbeat"/>

GothamNews and EdNews Colorado merged in January 2013 and were relaunched jointly as a national network, first known as Education News Network and then as Chalkbeat.<ref name="GothamSchools politico"/><ref name="EdWeek"/><ref name="EdWeek Education News Network is Now Chalkbeat"/> Green said the organizations "decided to merge because it's hard to build a sustainable business around journalism". Though the existing brands had loyal followings, "there is power in numbers. It made sense that we should all have one name."<ref name="EdWeek Education News Network is Now Chalkbeat">{{cite news |last1=Walsh |first1=Mark |title=Education News Network Is Now Chalkbeat |url=https://www.edweek.org/education/education-news-network-is-now-chalkbeat/2013/10 |access-date=16 January 2021 |work=Education Week |date=23 October 2013 |language=en}}</ref> The new organization started additional bureaus in Memphis and Indianapolis.<ref name="EdWeek"/> These new bureau locations were chosen for having a lot of changes or possibilities in their local education policy as well as local foundation support.<ref name="EdWeek Education News Network is Now Chalkbeat"/>

Chalkbeat raised $2.2 million in revenue in 2013, most of which came from philanthropic funding and about one third from ads and job boards listings. As the organization has expanded, it has attracted more funding from foundational donors and individuals.<ref name="GothamSchools politico" /> Donors include local foundations as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation, each of which gives between $200,000 and $400,000 per year as of 2016.<ref name="CJR" />

As of 2015 in New York City, Chalkbeat's competitors include three daily newspapers and a public radio station with an education-focused blog. Another key competitor is Capital Education, owned by Politico.<ref name="EdWeek" />

In the year 2016, Chalkbeat had approximately 250,000 visitors per month. About one quarter of readers work for education non-profits, another quarter are teachers, 11 percent are researchers or policymakers, and 10 percent are parents, according to Green. Their target audience includes both "education insiders" and interested people who care about education inequality.<ref name="CJR" />

In 2016, Chalkbeat clarified its expectations, standards and editorial practices by unveiling a formal "code of ethics" that covers all its bureaus.<ref name="CodeOfEthics" /> Chalkbeat has also introduced an open-source impact tracking platform called MORI (Measures of Our Reporting's Influence).

Chalkbeat expanded to Detroit in early 2017,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Green |first1=Elizabeth |title=Hi, we're Chalkbeat. Here's our commitment to you as we tell the story of Detroit's schools. |url=https://detroit.chalkbeat.org/2017/1/23/21121821/hi-we-re-chalkbeat-here-s-our-commitment-to-you-as-we-tell-the-story-of-detroit-s-schools |access-date=16 January 2021 |work=Chalkbeat Detroit |date=23 January 2017 |language=en}}</ref> and later that year it announced plans to expand to Chicago and Newark in 2018.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Walsh |first1=Mark |title=Education News Outlet Chalkbeat Is Expanding to Chicago, Newark in 2018 |url=https://www.edweek.org/education/education-news-outlet-chalkbeat-is-expanding-to-chicago-newark-in-2018/2017/10 |access-date=16 January 2021 |work=Education Week |date=31 October 2017 |language=en}}</ref>

In 2020, ''The Philadelphia Public School Notebook'' joined Chalkbeat to create Chalkbeat Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Notebook is now Chalkbeat Philadelphia! |url=https://thenotebook.org/articles/2020/07/30/notebook-partners-with-chalkbeat-to-launch-chalkbeat-philadelphia/ |access-date=16 January 2021 |work=The notebook |date=30 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Notebook is now Chalkbeat Philadelphia! |url=https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2020/7/30/22186786/notebook-partners-with-chalkbeat-to-launch-chalkbeat-philadelphia |access-date=16 January 2021 |work=Chalkbeat Philadelphia |date=30 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref> As of 2020, Chalkbeat has eight bureaus where it reports news regularly: Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, Indiana, Newark, New York City, Philadelphia, and Tennessee.<ref name="About Chalkbeat official site" />

In February 2023, Chalkbeat reorganized into having a parent organization called the Civic News Company to avoid confusion around the relationship between Chalkbeat and Votebeat, which was launched in 2020, as well as allowing room for growth.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Green |first=Elizabeth |date=2023-02-07 |title=Introducing Civic News Company |url=https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/2/7/23587855/civic-news-company-chalkbeat-votebeat/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Chalkbeat |language=en}}</ref>

In 2024, Healthbeat was launched to cover health topics.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fischer |first=Sarah |date=July 9, 2024 |title=Exclusive: Chalkbeat expands to public health, hires media veterans to run new parent organization |url=https://www.axios.com/2024/07/09/chalkbeat-civic-news-company-public-health-vertical |work=Axios}}</ref>

== Votebeat == In October 2020, Chalkbeat launched Votebeat, a project to report on local issues related to voting, starting with the 2020 United States elections and with plans to continue through the 2022 midterm election.<ref name="Poynter Elizabeth Green clones her Chalkbeat" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Fischer |first1=Sara |date=January 12, 2021 |title=Chalkbeat expands its coverage to include voting at the local level |url=https://www.axios.com/chalkbeat-votebeat-expansion-local-news-e3c4a390-8041-4f5c-9c36-43d4c3421cba.html |access-date=16 January 2021 |work=Axios |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=About |url=https://votebeat.org/about/ |website=Votebeat |access-date=16 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=February 25, 2021 |title=Bridging gaps in year-round election coverage |url=https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/bridging-gaps-in-year-round-election-coverage.php |access-date=28 June 2021 |work=Columbia Journalism Review |language=en}}</ref> Votebeat has received funding from the Institute for Nonprofit News as well as foundations and other donors.<ref>{{cite news |last=Scire |first=Sarah |date=January 25, 2021 |title=From "pop-up" to "pilot," Votebeat hopes to stick around until 2022 |url=https://www.niemanlab.org/2021/01/from-pop-up-to-pilot-votebeat-hopes-to-stick-around-until-2022/ |access-date=25 July 2021 |work=Nieman Lab}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Fischer |first=Sarah |date=May 24, 2022 |title=Votebeat launches as a permanent newsroom |url=https://www.axios.com/2022/05/24/votebeat-permanent-newsroom |work=Axios}}</ref> By May 2022, Votebeat became a permanent newsroom, with a national focus as well as Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Texas as its first four states, with plans to have a presence in all 50 states.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Scire |first=Sarah |date=June 30, 2022 |title=Votebeat will cover local election administration as a permanent newsroom |url=https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/06/votebeat-will-cover-local-election-administration-as-a-permanent-newsroom/ |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=Nieman Lab}}</ref> Wisconsin Watch partnered with Votebeat in 2024, making Wisconsin its fifth state.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-17 |title=Votebeat Archives - Page 2 of 4 |url=https://wisconsinwatch.org/tag/votebeat/page/2/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Wisconsin Watch |language=en-US}}</ref> As of 2024, Votebeat is the only news outlet in America focused solely on elections and voting at the local level.<ref name=":1">{{Cite magazine |last=Mansoor |first=Sanya |date=2024-09-19 |title=Chad Lorenz: Democracy Defenders |url=https://time.com/7017486/chad-lorenz-democracy-defenders/ |access-date=2024-10-27 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref> Votebeat publishes its stories without a paywall and allows any outlet to republish them for free.<ref name=":1" /> Ahead of the tallying of the votes for the 2024 United States presidential election, Votebeat assembled almost 100 voting experts to answer questions from journalists in a Slack channel.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 5, 2024 |title=Votebeat assembles nearly 100 election experts to answer reporters' questions (now, and in the weeks ahead) |url=https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/11/votebeat-assembles-nearly-100-election-experts-to-answer-reporters-questions-now-and-in-the-weeks-ahead/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Nieman Lab}}</ref> Votebeat is also a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-24 |title=Votebeat |url=https://findyournews.org/organization/votebeat/ |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=Find Your News |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Elizabeth Green == Elizabeth Green is the co-founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief of Chalkbeat.<ref name="EBSCOhost1" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/education_and_the_media/2017/10/education_news_outlet_chalkbeat_is_expanding_to_chicago_newark_in_2018.html |title=Education News Outlet Chalkbeat Is Expanding to Chicago, Newark in 2018 |date=October 31, 2017 |last=Walsh |first=Mark |website=Education Week |access-date=November 14, 2019}}</ref> Green, who is based in New York City,<ref name="EdWeek" /> studied teaching methods in the U.S. and Japan for six years.<ref name="NPR Building a Better Teacher"/> Her book ''Building a Better Teacher'', launched with a ''New York Times'' magazine story,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Green |first1=Elizabeth |title=Building a Better Teacher (Published 2010) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html |access-date=15 January 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=2 March 2010}}</ref> discusses the principles behind teaching skills and how complicated teaching can be.<ref name="NPR Building a Better Teacher"/> She believes that good teachers "are not born, they're made", and that "teaching must itself be taught".<ref name="NPR Building a Better Teacher"/> The book covers how teachers can be more effective and how policymakers can improve educators' skills.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 22, 2018 |title='Building a Better Teacher' author to speak Nov. 7 |url= |access-date= |work=Indiana State University Newsroom}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Building a Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and How to Teach It to Everyone) |last=Green |first=Elizabeth |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=2015 |isbn=9780393351088 |location=New York}}</ref> Green previously worked for ''U.S. News & World Report'' and ''The New York Sun'', where she covered education.<ref name="NPR Building a Better Teacher">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/08/09/338831269/building-a-better-teacher-dissecting-americas-education-culture |title='Building A Better Teacher': Dissecting America's Education Culture |publisher=NPR |date=August 9, 2014 |access-date=November 14, 2019}}</ref><ref name="LessonPlan" /> She realized the importance of covering news from pre-school education to higher education, including issues ranging from school policies to politics, and wanted to write about education on a local level. This is why Chalkbeat mainly focuses on education news in local communities.<ref name="LessonPlan" />

== Code of ethics == Chalkbeat originally adopted a code of ethics to govern the conduct of its team members in 2015.<ref name="Ethics">{{cite web |url=https://chalkbeat.org/about/ethics/ |title=Code of Ethics |website=Chalkbeat |access-date=November 14, 2019}}</ref> In 2016 it announced a new formal code of ethics in order to formalize existing practices and ensure consistency within the organization.<ref name="CodeOfEthics">{{cite news |last=Russo |first=Alexander |date=March 28, 2016 |title=Chalkbeat To Roll Out New Code Of Ethics |url=https://www.kappanonline.org/chalkbeat-to-roll-out-new-code-of-ethics/ |access-date=November 14, 2019 |work=Phi Delta Kappan}}</ref> Its code of ethics draws inspiration from other nonprofit news organizations, including The Marshall Project, ProPublica, ''The Texas Tribune'', and the Center for Investigative Reporting, as well as from professional organizations such as the Education Writers Association and the Society for Professional Journalists.<ref name="CodeOfEthics"/><ref name="Ethics" />

== Impact tracking (MORI) ==

MORI (Measures of Our Reporting's Influence) is an open-source WordPress plugin for tracking and reporting the impact of an organization's journalism, which Chalkbeat developed in 2014.<ref name="CJR" /><ref name="Poynter Elizabeth Green clones her Chalkbeat">{{cite news |last=Edmonds |first=Rick |date=17 December 2020 |title=Elizabeth Green clones her Chalkbeat model with Votebeat, a three-month pop-up newsroom covering the 2020 elections |url=https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2020/elizabeth-green-clones-her-chalkbeat-model-with-votebeat-a-three-month-pop-up-newsroom-covering-the-2020-elections/ |access-date=16 January 2021 |work=Poynter}}</ref> It has "deep ties to Google Analytics, as well as its own built-in taxonomies for detailed story types and impact types."<ref name="Announcing the open source release of MORI, from Chalkbeat"/>{{Secondary source needed|date=October 2024}} It was initially only used privately within the organization, but after two years, Chalkbeat announced the open-source release of the MORI Impact Tracker plugin, as the first product in the MORI Platform.<ref name="Announcing the open source release of MORI, from Chalkbeat">{{cite web |url=https://www.chalkbeat.org/2016/9/28/21099101/announcing-the-open-source-release-of-mori-from-chalkbeat |title=Announcing the open source release of MORI, from Chalkbeat |date=September 28, 2016 |website=Chalkbeat |access-date=November 14, 2019}}</ref>{{Secondary source needed|date=October 2024}} The impact tracker allows users to record impacts individually, review impacts over time by searching and sorting them, and export lists of impacts to a spreadsheet for further data crunching and sharing. Users can attach impacts to a particular WordPress post or a broader category or tag or stand alone. MORI also has a dashboard widget to display the latest impacts.<ref name="MORI">{{cite web |title=Chalkbeat / MORI |url=https://github.com/Chalkbeat/MORI |access-date=November 14, 2019 |publisher=Chalkbeat}}</ref>{{Secondary source needed|date=October 2024}}

MORI includes article-tagging, event-tracking and goal measurement. Journalists categorize the article by type and then identify the target audience before posting or publishing an article. They can also add a narrative description and an impact tag to the article page in the content management system (CMS) if there is a meaningful offline event related to the article. MORI requires editors to set goals before publishing, and metrics are provided in terms of progress to those goals. Goals can be set in categories such as Content Production, Content Consumption, and Engagement.<ref name="MORI" /><ref name="NewsLynx">{{cite web |url=https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/newslynx_a_tool_for_newsroom_impact_measurement.php |title=NewsLynx: A Tool for Newsroom Impact Measurement |website=Columbia Journalism Review |first1=Michael |last1=Keller |first2=Brian |last2=Abelson |date=June 4, 2015 |access-date=November 14, 2019}}</ref>

At first, Chalkbeat was unsure whether its journalists would use MORI, but the reception was positive, with reporters and editors enthusiastic about making use of the data it produced.<ref name="NewsLynx" />

=== The MORI Cycle===

The three-part "MORI Cycle" enables Chalkbeat to determine which types of stories led to the most impact, so that the team can plan to write more of them.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19891533/Chalkbeat_White_Paper_on_Impact_042914.pdf |title=What We Talk About When We Talk About Impact: One News Organization's Approach to Practicing Journalism with a Purpose |last1=Green |first1=Elizabeth |first2=Philissa |last2=Cramer |first3=Anika |last3=Anand |date=April 2016 |website=Chalkbeat |access-date=January 16, 2021}}</ref>{{Secondary source needed|date=October 2024}}

{| class="wikitable" |+ !Plan !Measure !Learn |- |What kind of impact do we aim to have? |What kind of stories have we written? |What worked well and what didn't? |- |How can we achieve it? |What impact did they lead to? |How can we achieve more impact in future? |}

== Reception ==

Chalkbeat has been praised for offering balanced, nuanced reporting on local education issues; Cornelia Grumman wrote that the organization's reporting "humanizes schools" instead of buying into a simplistic negative narrative.<ref name="Poynter Elizabeth Green clones her Chalkbeat"/><ref name="CJR" />

The organization's funding model has led to criticism from those who see a conflict of interest and feel that Chalkbeat is too focused on "a reform-minded policy community". Chalkbeat says that it has editorial independence and that its coverage of reforms is not always positive.<ref name="CJR" />

== See also ==

* Institute of Nonprofit News, another network of nonprofit newsrooms in the United States * States Newsroom, another network of nonprofit newsrooms around the United States that also publishes under a Creative Commons license

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Official website|https://www.chalkbeat.org/}} * [https://votebeat.org/ Votebeat]

Category:American news websites Category:Non-profit organizations based in New York City Category:WordPress Category:Nonprofit newspapers Category:Internet properties established in 2014 Category:American organizations established in 2014