Education news around the clock

We hope it's not the future of American journalism - lock, stock and barrel of ink - but a new website certainly fills an important Idaho niche.

The site is IdahoEdNews.org, a nonprofit but action-packed repository of education news.

Launched in January, IdahoEdNews.org is staffed by three veteran newspaper people: Editor Jennifer Swindell and reporters Kevin Richert and Clark Corbin. All three have distinguished themselves over the years as objective, serious journalists.

A three-person staff might not seem like much, but when you consider that all three are devoted to one subject - Idaho education - the commitment is considerable. Some newspapers in the state don't have a single reporter devoted to covering education. The Press has one, Maureen Dolan, while reporter Brian Walker dedicates much of his time to reporting on education in the Post Falls, Lakeland and Timberlake districts.

Swindell explained during a meeting with The Press recently that IdahoEdNews.org is funded by an initial grant from the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation. There's no pressure on staff to generate advertising dollars or site subscriptions for revenue to sustain the operation; they can focus exclusively on reporting education news that's meaningful to Idaho residents - educators, parents and other taxpayers.

"There's not another product like it in Idaho," Swindell said. "We have the money to do it right."

IdahoEdNews.org is something of an offshoot from another education-only, nonprofit website, EdNewsColorado.org. Swindell says that potentially, major cities and other states could join them in providing important, impartial education news in a similar format.

While we believe strongly in newspapers providing important local information every day, both in print and online, we think niche sites powered by legitimate journalists can fill an important need in society. You'll see some IdahoEdNews.org stories in the print and online editions of The Press as we supplement our education coverage through this fine source. We also encourage readers to use the site themselves.