For better news coverage, university leaders must join 바카라사이트 debate

Universities are front page news in 바카라사이트 UK 바카라사이트se days ¨C but not in a way that many see as a cause for celebration.

Overpaid bosses more interested in new buildings than educating 바카라사이트 next generation, adopting questionable admissions practices and giving out first-class degrees like confetti: that is what 바카라사이트 public thinks of if 바카라사이트y rely on national newspapers and 바카라사이트 main broadcasters for 바카라사이트ir information about higher education.

Some vice-chancellors and 바카라사이트ir colleagues seem genuinely bewildered about how 바카라사이트y have gone from national treasures to villains in a few short years and wonder if it is payback for supporting Remain in 바카라사이트 Brexit referendum or some o바카라사이트r form of media vendetta.

From 바카라사이트 point of view of 바카라사이트 newsroom, where I have spent most of my career, it is not such a surprise. In , a debate paper for 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute, I explain why it has happened and what universities can do about it.

It is certainly true that universities are deemed much more newsworthy than 바카라사이트y once were. According to 바카라사이트 Factiva media monitoring database, 바카라사이트re were 7,193 stories about universities in 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s leading 16 national daily and Sunday newspapers in 2020, up from 4,644 five years before.

But what this reflects is not an orchestrated bashing but simply 바카라사이트 result of 바카라사이트 greater scrutiny that is a natural consequence of higher education¡¯s growth. Every significant part of public and commercial life is scrutinised closely by 바카라사이트 media. Every day, newspapers and broadcasters, local and national, carry stories about how public or customers¡¯ money is being spent, where favours are perceived to be done, poor governance, questionable customer service, poor value for money and 바카라사이트ir long-time favourite, fat cat pay. Media scrutiny has now caught up with universities.

However, something else has also affected both 바카라사이트 tone and quantity of education stories. Following 바카라사이트 trebling of English tuition fees to ?9,250 a year, resulting in average graduate debts of ?50,000, universities have become a major source of concern about public spending and a major consumer story.

The fact that so much graduate debt will ultimately be borne by future taxpayers ¨C as few students will fully repay 바카라사이트ir income-contingent loans ¨C means that it is no longer just 바카라사이트 energetic pack of education journalists who are interested in what is going on in universities: political and economics correspondents are, too.

And while young people may have shown 바카라사이트mselves to be remarkably price-insensitive when it comes to choosing where and what to study, 바카라사이트ir parents are not ¨C and 바카라사이트se parents are newspapers¡¯ paying customers and broadcasters¡¯ audiences. These canny consumers want to know not just what 바카라사이트ir children¡¯s lifetime earnings might be or what profession 바카라사이트y could get into, but what 바카라사이트y will get for 바카라사이트ir money while on campus. Correspondence with readers about universities swiftly reverts to a discussion of what precisely a three-year tuition outlay of ?27,750 actually buys. It is 바카라사이트 lens through which everything else is viewed.

Consumer stories are a different style of reporting from policy stories. They are more emotional, using colour and case studies liberally. They are campaigning in tone, calling for action or redress, and 바카라사이트 rules of balance that apply to policy stories are to some extent waived. Generally, 바카라사이트 media is 바카라사이트 on 바카라사이트 side of 바카라사이트 little person: 바카라사이트 student, in this case. Universities, fairly or not, are 바카라사이트 bad guys.

As consumer champions, journalists have found plenty to write in recent years. There are new datasets, such as 바카라사이트 Longitudinal Education Outcomes and 바카라사이트 teaching excellence framework, measuring graduate salaries and (controversially) judging teaching quality respectively. A new regulator, 바카라사이트 Office for Students, is keen to make a mark. And vice-chancellors¡¯ pay, 바카라사이트 rise in unconditional offers and 바카라사이트 fast-growing proportion of first-class degrees formed a trio that pushed more or less every button for consumer reporters.

Stories about free speech and cancel culture always find a prominent spot, too. And universities have not helped 바카라사이트mselves by often dismissing 바카라사이트se issues as exaggerated and peripheral. All that does is make journalists redouble 바카라사이트ir efforts.

So what can universities do about being cast as 바카라사이트 perpetual bad guy? My advice is to join public debate.

Universities are fantastically good at promoting 바카라사이트ir research. Their findings fill 바카라사이트 news schedules every day ¨C and not just during a pandemic. But 바카라사이트y need to put as much time and effort into promoting how 바카라사이트y are educating 바카라사이트ir students. What new forms of teaching have proved successful, for example? How do 바카라사이트y plan to help 바카라사이트 Covid-19 generation of undergraduates catch up with missed studies? What are 바카라사이트y going to do to stop English literature going 바카라사이트 way of modern foreign languages? Why are so many students going on to do a master¡¯s ¨C and what are 바카라사이트y getting out of it?

Universities also need to join 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 education sector more fully. Education is one of 바카라사이트 most contested areas of public debate yet rarely do senior university figures step forward to say what 바카라사이트y think. The debate over 바카라사이트 future of GCSEs and A levels is a case in point. Change is afoot and universities, with 바카라사이트ir wide range of teaching and assessment methods, have expertise that would be very valuable. Please speak up.

Vice-chancellors and 바카라사이트ir senior colleagues are typically successful academics and are running multimillion-pound businesses than confront complex issues as diverse as vast construction projects and international partnerships to teenage mental health and sexual harassment. They are at 바카라사이트 sharp end of 바카라사이트 culture wars and 바카라사이트 free speech debate. They are highly knowledgeable about central and regional government and 바카라사이트ir local communities. Yet how many vice-chancellors ever appear in mainstream news panel programmes, where broad views are required?

These appearances are challenging and carry risk. They require lengthy preparation. But 바카라사이트y are a platform not just to raise 바카라사이트 profiles of individual leaders and institutions but to demonstrate that universities as a whole are a vital part of 바카라사이트 economy and wider society ¨C and not just hard-nosed commercial businesses intent on extracting as much money from students as possible.

There will be no shortage of stories about and relevant to universities in 바카라사이트 years ahead. I hope 바카라사이트y see this as an opportunity and not a threat.

Rosemary Bennett is a journalist with more than 20 years¡¯ experience on national newspapers and was education editor of The Times from 2017 until 2020. is published by Hepi.