N&R editor John Robinson announces education reporter Morgan Josey Glover has moved to the environment beat, saying “Our loss on the education scene is our gain in the environment.” I guess the N&R thinks the environment is a more important beat than education. You tell me if that’s true.

With the N&R’s sale still pending, my guess is the paper will shift another reporter to the education beat, with coverage suffering as a result. It’s too bad, because the N&R had excellent education coverage as recently as four years ago with not one but two reporters on the beat. Jennifer Fernandez was probably the hardest-working reporter in the Triad at the time, not only covering endless school board meetings but keeping a close eye on larger issues, while Commander Hood praised Bruce Buchanan for doing “more than perhaps any other journalist in the state to explain how the state’s end-of-grade testing really works.”

You can already argue that the Rhino already blows the N&R away on the education beat. I have the feeling that the local paper of record is about to cede serious coverage entirely.