I’m not sure what’s more disappointing: last night’s cuts by the school board or the mixed media coverage of it that appeared online this morning.

WQOW’s story, with the headline “Eau Claire School Board Makes Another Round of Cuts” was cut and dry. It summarizes the cuts and includes a quote about the entire situation, instead of any specific area.

The Leader-Telegram’s story, with the headline “School athletic fees could increase,” clearly gives prominence to the sports-related changes (mostly a three-tier athletic fee structure that could raise $100 per student’s sport to $300), and waits until the fifth paragraph to mention the six eliminated teaching positions. The next six paragraphs discuss more sports changes. Though five other cuts appear in a list at the end, it does not make mention of the art teachers and art class time that was cut.

WEAU took a whole different direction with its story, with the headline “Tough Cuts: EC Schools Board Eliminated Six Teachers,” giving prominence to the cut positions. The third and fourth paragraphs are respective lists of things the board decided to eliminate and save.

In WEAU’s eliminated list: 6 high school teachers, 1 part-time library/media specialist, 2 art specialists, 60 minutes of elementary art down to 45 minutes, 1.5 early learning jobs, 2 assistant football coaches, and district-funded field trips.

In their saved list: 6 bus routes, custodial weekend overtime (for sports, theater, and music events), 5 high school athletic teams, JV hockey, and intramurals.

Ignore the sports-versus-arts debate, and assume the board is trying to be fair to everyone. Instead, be the judge of this gap in coverage. Is it a case of media covering what the community does care about, or telling us what we should care about?