Tara GarciaMathewson

Education journalist. Translator of jargon and toddler Spanglish. Investigating tech in higher ed for @themarkup ([email protected]). @hechingerreport alum!

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

You’ve heard of book bans. School districts also censor the web. Some keep kids from LGBTQ+ resources but leave anti-LGBTQ content available. They block sex ed and abortion information. They make homework even more of a drag. Check out my latest: https://t.co/P9AFEf0VYB

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

Turnitin has been a staple purchase in #highered for decades, despite its rising cost, unsophisticated technology and highly problematic practice of demanding a perpetual license to any student writing its plagiarism and AI detector scans. https://t.co/PkIVniacbY @sundaylongread

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

@lamthuyvo @VietFactCheck @Documentedny Congratulations! I’m proud of this work, my friend!! We miss you!

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

Very nice to have this project recognized. 🤩 I'm grateful to be part of a newsroom that comes together to produce work like this.

[Online News Association @ONA]

WINNER! Excellence in Technology Reporting, Small Newsroom: Digital Book Banning by @themarkup https://t.co/VjiZBWPvAu #OJA24

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

Want to test out what categories your school blocks? Log into school wifi and click through our quiz: https://t.co/yAOAwnmdFX

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

I recently reported on school web filters getting in the way of homework and even keeping some kids from LGBTQ resources and sex ed. Here's the story of a teen who, with his family, raised ~$2M in venture funding to make a better filter: https://t.co/087S5IW5mD

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

The original series starts here: https://t.co/P9AFEf0VYB

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

Classic @themarkup excellence in this piece: https://t.co/2RVCoh3SzF ace reporting by @ASankin and team, awesome visuals by @ghongsdusit and @JoelEastwood, one eye-popping finding after another about racial inequality in Michigan's insurance rates. Proud colleague over here!

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

Most schools report the reason for each suspension to their state, choosing from a range of preset options. Despite those options, many essentially check "other," preventing real transparency. (My last story with Fazil, who died in February.) https://t.co/smbYYFmOjM

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

And if you are a student or have any young people in your life, ask them to take our interactive survey and share their results. We want to know the contours of blocking in even more districts: https://t.co/yAOAwnmdFX 5/5

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

A teacher wanted her students to find connections between Emily Dickinson's poetry and her letters. The letters were online at @internetarchive but her district blocked the entire website over fears of adult content on some pages. She had to scrap the assignment. 1/5

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

ICYMI, the first part of the series is here: https://t.co/P9AFEf0VYB 4/5

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

@SilasAllen1 @JakeHarris4 Someone did write to me about why NASA might be blocked. It mistakenly shows up on a crowdsourced blocklist. After reading my story the person asked (for the second time) to have it taken off so maybe kids will see the benefit eventually…

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

@BryanSweasy Thanks for reading! Completely fair points. I do hope the story at least prompts school districts to think more carefully about how they’re justifying some of these category blocks.

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

You’ve heard of book bans. School districts also censor the web. Some keep kids from LGBTQ+ resources but leave anti-LGBTQ content available. They block sex ed and abortion information. They make homework even more of a drag. Check out my latest: https://t.co/P9AFEf0VYB

[The Markup @themarkup]

NEW DATA: Schools censor much of the web—and the practice is inhibiting students’ learning and even safety.

The Trevor Project? Blocked.
Planned Parenthood? Blocked.
NASA? Blocked.

With @USATODAY: https://t.co/XOko8hKPLZ

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

@themarkup also publishes in Arabic 🤩 https://t.co/1ksw42a8bj

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

A beautiful tribute to a life cut so tragically short. https://t.co/1x6zv6WGXZ

[Tara GarciaMathewson @TaraGarciaM]

“Incredibly talented, charmingly humble and with a smile that melted the coldest of hearts, Fazil Khan was a spot of sunshine in this dreary, dark world. And he leaves it darker.”

💔

[Nitya Thirumalai @NitsThirumalai]

Farewell, Fazil @merefazildost. We’ll look you up in the stars.

https://t.co/wcfqxOkPUE