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Megan Greenwell

@greenwell.bsky.social

I write narrative features about how systems affect people. Contributing writer, Bloomberg Businessweek. Author, Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream: https://bookshop.org/a/109816/9780063299351.

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Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · yesterday

nothing makes me more hopeful for the future than the 10 days I spend every year helping run a program for brilliant, passionate, curious low-income high school journalists. if you ever feel ground down by the media industry or the world at large, I highly recommend working with young people!

a big group of students, almost all raising their hands to debate a real-world journalism ethics dilemma. a group of a dozenish students sitting under a huge tree on Princeton’s campusthe entire Princeton Summer Journalism Program: 38 teenagers and 15 counselorsphrases/memes/concepts I learned from teens this summer: - Saying "conversing" rather than "talking." Talking" means "dating" so need something else - Search it up > Google it - Luggagemaxing - "Lowkey locked in" - "Jits" means "kids" - Teens don't believe in Helen Keller - "Would you rather never get to have Linkedin or never get to have Roblox" - "Would you rather trip every day or never hear your parents when they yell at you" - "Bird" means someone oblivious who stays in a bad relationship - "Aura farming" - Absurdist - "People will call you a Honda Civic" - "Low key dying right now" - "Everyone yearns for 2018" - "Spiritually Israeli" meme? - Saying "that's Al" rather than "that's fake news." like "I didn't lose my ID that's Al" - "that's not a hot take, that's a 75-degree take"
Martha Smith@mostlymartha.bsky.social · 2w ago

This is excellent and terrifying. We are already seeing the effects of adults who can't think conceptually. "The state may have cracked the code of how to teach basic literacy. The conundrum is that even there, success peters out when it comes to translating words into conceptual thinking."

Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · 2w ago

WIRED sent me to Mississippi to report a different kind of feature about reading. Why are third-graders there acing standardized tests but older students are still struggling with comprehension? What does measuring "literacy" even mean?

Marnie Kaplan@marniekaplan.bsky.social · 2w ago

My brain cannot process this stat: “Only 41% of children under 4 are frequently read to, down 23 points since 2012.”

Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · 2w ago

I’ve become obsessed with the question of what kinds of reading matter to our society — why tests are more valuable than books, why books are better than fan fiction, etc. Grateful to @wired.com for letting me go long and @jonbecker.bsky.social for the smart thoughts. www.wired.com/story/missis...

The research, though, is mixed at best about whether attaching harsher consequences to standardized tests actually results in better performance. And the decline in American reading goes deeper than the ability to pass a standardized test. Just 16 percent of Americans read for fun, according to a 2023 study, down from 28 percent in 2004. Only 41 percent of children under 4 are frequently read to, down 23 points since 2012. "I think there's an important distinction between whether students are able to read and whether they're willing to read," says Jonathan Becker, a scholar of education policy at Virginia Commonwealth University. "If we want our students to be able to answer questions about a short reading passage, we're going to have them read lots of short reading passages. There's no real incentive on the tests or in a lot of the standards to have kids read whole books."
Jon Becker@jonbecker.bsky.social · 2w ago

This is a *fantastic* look at how educational policy (in this case, reading instruction) is operationalized in schools and the classroom. And, the kicker is perfect, IMHO.

Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · 2w ago

I’ve become obsessed with the question of what kinds of reading matter to our society — why tests are more valuable than books, why books are better than fan fiction, etc. Grateful to @wired.com for letting me go long and @jonbecker.bsky.social for the smart thoughts. www.wired.com/story/missis...

The research, though, is mixed at best about whether attaching harsher consequences to standardized tests actually results in better performance. And the decline in American reading goes deeper than the ability to pass a standardized test. Just 16 percent of Americans read for fun, according to a 2023 study, down from 28 percent in 2004. Only 41 percent of children under 4 are frequently read to, down 23 points since 2012. "I think there's an important distinction between whether students are able to read and whether they're willing to read," says Jonathan Becker, a scholar of education policy at Virginia Commonwealth University. "If we want our students to be able to answer questions about a short reading passage, we're going to have them read lots of short reading passages. There's no real incentive on the tests or in a lot of the standards to have kids read whole books."
Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · 2w ago

a hill I will die on is that it’s really gross to report someone’s layoff before that person has been laid off. this is someone’s actual life! getting a scoop is not worth making their incredibly shitty day worse!

ESPN declined comment. Reached by phone on Tuesday morning, Ravech had yet to be told, as ESPN is planning to inform employees later in the morning.
The Athletic@theathletic.com · 2w ago

Karl Ravech, one of ESPN's most prominent voices for more than three decades, is expected to be laid off as part of the company's latest round of cuts, sources briefed on the matter told The Athletic. nyti.ms/4vJD4XJ

Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · 2w ago

there is a certain type of childless person who finds it urgent to remind everyone else as often as possible that THEY are far too good for children and should not be forced to encounter them, and as a childless person myself I feel well-qualified to say that these people are losers.

Kat Abughazaleh@katmabu.bsky.social · 2w ago

I cannot overstate how much I hate when people are dicks about babies crying in public (especially airplanes). Do you think the parent is having a good time right now?? Do you think they are not aware of the situation??? Are you going to negotiate with a literal infant????

Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · 3w ago

an incomplete list of things I have had explained recently in response to me demonstrating expertise: -how private equity works -how small-college finances work -how WNBA finances work -how pitching stories works -how freelancer health insurance works -how college admissions and financial aid work

rax ‘levon honkers’ king@raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 3w ago

i think it would be pretty cool and fun to experience life as the type of writer who is default assumed to know what she's talking about when covering one of her areas of expertise. so i guess a man. the type of writer who is a man

Nora Biette-Timmons@biettetimmons.bsky.social · 4w ago

oh man, if I was in New York next week, i would be going to this @maris.bsky.social, @greenwell.bsky.social, @amandahess.bsky.social event! www.strandbooks.com/maris-kreizm...

Purchase a Ticket for Event Maris Kreizman + Special Guests: I Want to Burn this Place Down | Strand Books

Join us at Strand Books for Maris Kreizman + Special Guests: I Want to Burn this Place Down event. Discover author talks, book signings, and unique literary experiences.

strandbooks.com

Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · 4w ago

I have edited a lot of sexual-assault-accusation articles, and this one easily clears every veracity check: contemporaneous emails with her therapist, a boyfriend who knew, a woman she warned—all before Platner ran for office. Good on Politico for nailing it, and on Jenny Racicot for speaking up.

Exclusive: Woman who dated Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her

The Maine Democrat denied the allegations and said, “Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.”

politico.com

Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · last mo.

In other media scandal news, a respected environmental journalist, Dillon Osleger, fabricated an High Country News feature. He has these beautiful scenes that he simply did not see! HCN says the piece was fact-checked, so either their fact-checking is woeful or he fully Stephen Glass'd them?

Investigation into ‘Pinecone Cowboys’ errors - High Country News

NOTE TO READERS Following publication of our May 2026 cover story “Pinecone Cowboys,” we discovered that the author misrepresented details of his reporting, leading to significant errors in both the s...

hcn.org