Thanks to reader Chiara for this disturbing story:
She writes:
Atlantic Monthly now funded by Walton Family:
“All of which is important context for spotlighting a grant of $550,000 made last year by the leading philanthropic proponent of charter schools, the Walton Family Foundation, to the Atlantic Monthly, a storied magazine that’s been commanding attention from the nation’s educated elite for a century and a half. The grant was made as part of Walton’s effort’s to shape public policy, with the foundation describing its goal in this area as catalyzing a “national movement demanding choice and accountability.”
“That’s funny because we have been told repeatedly there IS a national movement “demanding” choice and accountability. Apparently it needs paid cheerleaders to “catalyze” the public. It’s called “creating demand”.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is HORRIBLE news! I’m reposting and tweeting everywhere. The Atlantic Monthly has been a reliable venue of excellent reporting. A grant–and the strings attached–would put a stop to that.
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https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/117253
Use this link to find all the Rheeformers. Straight from the horses mouth.
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Meant the LA Rheeformers…there will be more added soon. But this from the husband of the owner of LASR is telling.
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The Atlantic has been in the tank for school reform since forever anyway. I remember their gush piece about the New Orleans “miracle”. But now it makes all of their reporting suspicious.
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The publishers wife, if memory serves me was on the board of a DC charter a few years ago. They’ve (The Atlantic) also been supportive of charters. This 500 k looks like a pay-off of sorts. Journalism co-opted once again.
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Glad to know the information. Dread the implementation
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Another great institution, like Brookings gone astray.
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Yes, thanks for the news. I have read the Atlantic for years. NOW?
Also: if memory is correct the Wall Street Journal was purchased by Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox “news” at which time many of their best reporters resigned in disgust. It is more than disconcerting when the big money people own more and more of the “news” media. Small wonder that so many of the public have such distorted views of what is happening in the U. S.
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From the same journal: Inside Philanthropy. http://www.insidephilanthropy.com/k-12-education/2015/5/4/great-teachers-are-made-and-gates-wants-to-make-more-of-them.html?utm_content=buffer47611&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
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From that article:
“A virtually unanimous body of education research indicates that effective teachers are the single most important factor driving student academic achievement, but little consensus exists on what makes a good teacher or even how good teachers are made.”
How many falsehoods can you find in that statement?
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OK Duane, you must have a checklist for ‘rating’ teachers. Share that will you?
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Kent,
I didn’t realize that it was my job to “have a checklist for ‘rating’ teachers”. So how can I share something with you that I’ve nary given a thought?? I’m not so sure as to the reason for your question, please enlighten!
Are there no falsehoods in that statement?
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testing, 123!
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Regardless of who’s outnumbered, why can’t or won’t journalists spend the time and effort it requires to get to the truth?
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Wish I had a sure answer for that one but it seems to me that Uupton Sinclair said it best with “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.”
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So it really comes down to which advertisers a paper is willing to lose? Has our press always sold out to the highest bidder?
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Let’s just say that many a newspaper man was more than willing to hang out the red light at night.
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I was thinking about it with charter schools, too, the schools that advertise constantly in Ohio.
Obviously there’s always been commercial advertisers on media, so that conflict has always been there, but are charter schools different because public schools (generally) don’t advertise so heavily (or they don’t in Ohio, yet)?
Would there be a leaning toward covering charters over public schools is one is a paid advertiser and the other is not?
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Cincinnati Public Schools are advertising. I do not know the budget but it is certainly a relatively new phenomenon…full page full color stread in alocal magazine.
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And the Daily News can’t sell itself for a dollar – http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0NX2J920150512?irpc=932
People are really clamoring for corporate mouthpieces these days doncha know.
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I think the only way we’re going to get good public education coverage is if we pay for local newspapers and support local media so they can pay people to research and write it.
Without that we just get “big picture” pieces that have very little to do with the reality of the places where we live and often reflect the dominant political narrative, in this case, the “ed reform movement”
It’s a big country. We need small media 🙂
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> It’s called “creating demand”.
Or, as Professor Chomsky says: “manufacturing consent.”
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That’s funny because “creating demand” is a business phrase.
The Waltons do it quite literally with charter schools. The “failing public schools” mantra creates demand.
I saw an ad for a cybercharter the other day. The whole thing revolves around “safety”. Schools are these nightmare places full of bullies and huge crowds and fear.
They’re going to make these kids terrified to leave the house.
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Engineering Consent is the title of a 1947 essay by Edward Berneys, known as the father of PR, A nephew of Freud, Bernays worked on propaganda for Thomas Edison the City of Lights campaign. He worked for the National Association of Manufacturers throughout the Great depression trying to distract attention from the realities of that era. Roadside billboards depicted a cheerful white family in the latest car driving down the highway, smiling waving, carefree with a slogan The American Way. The unspoken message was that social welfare programs were anti-American. For more, read A Social History of Spin.
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EdWeek is now funded by multiple foundations. The foundations get to choose the “editorial projects” they want to fund. The claim of editorial independence is not persuasive. Special sections are really extended advertorials for tech, for preferred pre-school plans, for personalized learning and so on. The commentary section is increasingly reserved for persons who are enlisted as shills. Example:, April 15, 2015, Why Colleges Should Care About the Common Core written to promote the use of SBAC and PARCC test scores for college admission. No mention at all of the loss of academic freedom.
Expect more of these liaisons to propagate charters as the panacea for “failing public schools,” a meme that will be refreshed when the scores on SBAC and PARCC tests an other common core-compliant tests are published. The cut scores for SBAC and PARCC are expected to produce a lot fuel for charters and to refresh the importance of more test prep for the rest.
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That’s why I dropped my long-time subscription to Ed Week last year. Too much corporate pandering. It felt like I was paying for advertising, not news.
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We stopped our subscription to Atlantic Monthly a few years ago when we felt that their reporting on the economic growth of China and international Capitalism was, shall we say, less than balanced.
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The Walton family should take the $550,000 and do what is ethical, and give bonuses to their employees. Unfortunately, the Walton family does not understand the concept of ethics, or morals, or humanity.
An independent investigation should be conducted on the Walton family, around the theme of destructive practices against the United States and democratic ideals. Then I would support the break up of the exploitive cesspool that Walmart represents.
And to Atlantic Monthly..it’s been nice knowing you, but you have sold your reputation…and are no longer welcome in my home or business.
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Pro Publica is funded by the Arnold Foundation.
PR professionals outnumber journalists 4 to 1.
A recent Princeton study showed public opinion has a near zero impact on U.S. law. And, if the study was expanded to states, IMO, the result would likely be the same.
So, I guess all of the bought opinions just bolster the plutocrats, in their echo chambers.
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The Washington Post is owned by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. The New Republic by Facebook’s Chris Hughes. NPR is compromised by the Waltons’ and Arnolds’ money. My local paper is pro-corporation, anti-worker. Every major newpaper in California endorsed pro-charter Marshall Tuck over pro-teacher Tom Torlakson in the last state superintendent’s race. As wealth increasingly pools at the top, what’s to stop the plutocrats from controlling every media outlet? I subscribe to the New York Times, the Nation, Mother Jones and KQED so that these institutions don’t have to be abjectly dependent on handouts from the rich.
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More dots to connect. Atlantic editor is James Bennet, brother of former Denver public schools superintendent not US Senator Michael Bennet. Michael Bennet started Denver down the “reform” road.
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I have learned three things during the last 5-10 years of “reform”:
1. We live in a Plutocracy.
2. If you aren’t a billionaire, no one cares what you think. See #1 again and face reality.
3. American TV is surprisingly really good. We are really going through a TV renaissance: Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Mad Men, the list goes on and on….There are many high-quality shows to watch and use to “space out” and “escape reality”. These shows have really helped me ignore all this “reform.” My blood pressure, which was quite high initially, is back to normal. I also sleep and teach much better. Netflix quite literally saved my life. It’s better than a trip to the doctor.
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#3 Have you been able to detach your tongue from you cheek, yet?
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Netflix, unfortunately, belongs to Reed Hastings, who believes that elected school boards get in the way of his making money via charters.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/03/14/netflixs-reed-hastings-has-a-big-idea-kill-elected-school-boards/
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Oh, no, no, no. It’s time to contact them. Too bad I no longer have a subscription I can cancel.
Freelance journalists or academics here, how about research and investigation into if and how financial supports affect news agencies?
Deregulation has done some real damage in the journalism realm, as far as I can tell.
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