Sinclair Dives Into Education Issues with Project Baltimore

Project Baltimore is an ongoing investigation of public schools in the Baltimore area a system now getting more than 13 billion per fiscal year from local and state sources Despite that funding level among the highest per student in the nation Baltimore continues to suffer a high rate of student dropouts a low rate of graduation and declining student test scores from year to year according to Sinclair Broadcast Group Vice President of News Scott Livingstonamp160Under a team of seven journalists led by veteran reporter Chris Papst Project Baltimore will have an ongoing presence on WBFF39s nightly newscasts for the next year and likely beyondquotPeople have wanted more in this city for kids for decadesquot Papst explains quotIt39s never happened We want to expose whyamp160and be the mouthpiece for parents who want something betterquotAt the same time Livingston and Papst want to separate WBFF from other local stations by breaking stories onamp160issues like education in an ongoing substantial way with context quotIf it takes a couple of years to expose both the problems and the solutions here that39s what it will takequot Livingston promises quotThis is all about saving public education If we don39t who willquotSpotlight last year39s Academy Awardwinning film dramatizing The Boston Globe39s comprehensive connectthedots inquiry into sexual abuse committed by leading members of the city39s priesthood serves as the reference point for Papst39s team Project Baltimoreamp160is unfolding its investigation on a topicbytopic basis starting with how the annual Maryland and Baltimore budgets for education are allocated Five stories have run on WBFF so far scheduled during its Monday and Wednesday 10 pm newscasts the mostwatched from week to week according to Livingston In the coming months reports will scope out the state of school facilities violence the impact of unions teacher pay and afterschool programsViewers are invited to respond at the end of each report by email or calling a special hotline The reports and reaction to themamp160get additional exposure on WBFF39s websiteWhile bringing incidents of wasteful spending or lack of resources to light Papst and his colleagues will explore what does work inside the school systemamp160and tap the expertise of other Sinclair stations to see how and if Baltimore39s issues are successfully handled elsewhere quotLet39s see what39s going on for hundreds of thousands of kids that are in Cleveland39s schools or San Antonio39s schoolsquot he proposesquotI39m proud this will be a deepdive effort into this subjectquot adds WBFF General Manager Bill Fanshawe quotThis could end up being one of the best public service projects of the year anywhere and we39ll be there every step of the wayquot So far Papst and his investigative team have not encountered roadblocks or red tape from localstate government officials or education management quotNo one has denied access yetquot he says quotPeople want to be on the right side of this subject and everyone wants the situation to get better This crisis is not happening because of one person oneamp160incident or one anything This is an institutional onion we39re peelingquotStage two of Project Baltimoreamp160 a monthly primetime town hall meeting uniting teachers schoolcity leadership and parents will begin next month Each event will originate from a local school church or public facilityamp160and get televised live Sinclair is exploring the possibility of corporate sponsorship for these eventsamp160A social media outreach is also under consideration as is exposure onamp160Full Measure the halfhour Sunday morning newsmagazine Sinclair distributes among members of its station groupWhatever the results from Project Baltimoreamp160count on other Sinclair stations to leverageamp160longform in this manner sooner rather than later quotWe could roll out something like this in every marketquot Livingston muses quotIn this TV environment you now have to offer viewers more context and relevance for their lives You have to get boldquotNote This is the latest in an ongoing series of columns aboutamp160various projects at Sinclair the television industry39s largest station ownerClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this article are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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Sinclair Dives Into Education Issues with Project Baltimore

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Simon Applebaum

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Sinclair Dives Into Education Issues with Project Baltimore

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