Friday, October 20, 2006
Q and A with Dave Lawrence: Covering Pre-K
Until seven years ago, Dave Lawrence was publisher of
The Miami Herald and, before that, publisher and executive editor of
the Detroit Free Press. He left the newspaper business to devote himself to improving early childhood education. Now he's president of
The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation and chair of
The Children's Trust. He lives in the Miami area.
In addition to addressing issues related to his new field, Lawrence also responded to
a couple of questions about the state of the newspaper business.
Poynter Online: Why and how did you make the transition to the work you are doing now?
Dave Lawrence:
I spent 35 years in newspapers -- as reporter, editor or publisher --
in seven cities before my retirement at age 56 at the beginning of
1999. In 1996, I was asked by then Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles to serve
in a two-year civic assignment on the Governor's Commission on
Education. The mission was to look at six key education areas for the
future of the state. One of those was "school readiness." Somehow, I
ended up chairing that task force. I learned so much, became so
convinced that the topic spoke to the very future of my community and
my country, that I retired to work on such matters full time.
Please tell us little bit about what it is you are doing now.
I am president of The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation and chair
of The Children's Trust, but also am involved in a host of other
activities that speak to the future of children.
As someone who has worked on both sides of the fence -- for newspapers
and, more recently, for nonprofits and the government -- what is the
importance of covering early childhood education?
We have ample evidence in this country that a dollar invested wisely up
front in childrens' lives would save at least seven dollars in money we
would not need to spend on police, prosecution, prison and remediation.
The smartest thing we could do for public education reform in this
country -- and 90 percent of children still attend public schools --
would be to bring children in better shape to formal school. One
valuable piece of research: If a hundred children leave first grade as
poor readers, then 88 of them will remain poor readers at the end of
fourth grade. And: The very future of the newspaper business depends on
people who can read. The time to invest in that is early.
What advice would you give to a reporter who has been assigned to the
K-12 beat at his or her newspaper, but is interested in covering early
childhood education?
Understand it. There is literally a "movement" happening all around the
country, and I see it little reflected in coverage. It has to do with
such matters as pre-K, high-quality child care, parent skill-building,
"school readiness," etc.
What are some of the important stories and trends in early childhood
education that education reporters should be keeping an eye on?
A parents' guide to really good child care? What actually is "school
readiness"? How many school superintendents really "get it" on the
subject of "school readiness"? What's the brain research telling us?
How many children are really "ready" for formal school, and what is
your community doing about that? What's the return on early investment?
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What lessons do you take from the demise of Knight Ridder for the future of newspapers?
It's all deeply sad. I am quite sure that Jack Knight, Lee Hills and
Jim Batten just couldn't imagine this happening. But it did. Others can
give you sophisticated answers that deal with public markets and
two-tier stocks, and so forth. Beyond that, I have a profound concern
that newspapers are more necessary than ever in a republic, and "we"
are eating our seed corn. If I want "talk shows" and people bashing
each other, I will turn to broadcast. I just happen to think there is a
"market" for newspapers that take readers seriously. Truly good
journalism -- the big stuff and the "little" -- should always be in
demand.
When friends from out of town ask you how
The Miami Herald looks to you these days, what do you say?
Its strongest suit continues to be (a) investigative reporting, and (b) the ability to blanket the really big story.
Here's
what I would say about all newspapers: They need to excel at every
level of local reporting to have a bright future. I need to be able to
pick up my local newspaper anywhere in the country, and say:
"Fascinating." "I didn't know that." And so forth.
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