Clare Buchanan
Clare Buchanan is a local democracy reporter whose work for Fife Today and partner titles tracks how council decisions shape schools, public services and everyday life in Fife and Clackmannanshire. Her coverage stands out for its focus on the practical consequences of committee debates and budget allocations rather than only the headline politics.
School safety, exams and the classroom
On her education beat she follows how council oversight affects pupils’ safety and welfare, including reporting on Fife Council’s review of school safety after pupils left school grounds without permission. She treats school incidents as governance issues, concentrating on how policies, supervision and risk assessments are challenged when procedures fail.
Her contributions to coverage of exam results bring the same attention to impact and accountability. As a local democracy service reporter on a national broadcaster’s exam results day live page, she helps explain rising pass rates and changing trends in attainment alongside how local authorities and schools respond. The work connects national figures with the experience of pupils, families and educators in the areas she covers, keeping the emphasis on what official decisions mean for classrooms and future opportunities.
Council meetings, budgets and local infrastructure
A large part of Buchanan’s reporting centres on council meetings where access, infrastructure and public spaces are contested.
In coverage of anger over a proposed closure of a right of way near Freuchie, she follows a lengthy debate in which a councillor is threatened with suspension from the meeting, detailing both the procedural flashpoints and the outcome of the bid to shut off the path. Her account shows how seemingly minor local routes become tests of transparency, due process and residents’ ability to challenge decisions.
She also reports on capital investment decisions such as plans for a new cycle track in Dalgety Bay. In that piece she notes how an area committee agrees to allocate tens of thousands of pounds from its capital budget to support a project facing rising costs, making clear which part of the budget is used and how committee approval translates into tangible facilities. The focus is on committee votes, funding figures and the way community amenities like sports infrastructure depend on these choices.
Buchanan extends this lens to major landmarks and shared assets. In her report on calls to fix the lighting on the Forth Bridge, where only a small fraction of the lights remain working, she frames the story around responsibility for maintenance, the expectations placed on authorities and the frustrations of seeing a prominent structure fall into partial disrepair.
By combining technical detail on what is working with the voices pressing for action, she treats infrastructure stories as questions about stewardship of public heritage.
Local democracy across multiple outlets
Buchanan’s local democracy work spans newspapers, digital outlets and broadcast platforms, giving her coverage reach across different audiences. She files for Fife Today alongside other regional titles supported by a local democracy reporting scheme, and her byline appears on radio news sites and national broadcaster pages that carry local democracy service material.
This cross-outlet presence means her reporting on committees, consultations and budgets is shared beyond a single masthead, while retaining a consistent emphasis on how decisions land in specific communities.
Her current focus builds on several years of local newspaper reporting, including senior roles that required covering a broad mix of hard news, councils and community stories. That background is reflected in a style that is direct and fact-led: she prioritises clear headlines, names the committees involved, and sets out who spoke, what was decided and how much money was committed. Quotes from councillors and residents sit within a tight structure that keeps procedural detail visible rather than buried, making her pieces useful records of what authorities promised to do and when.
Across subjects - whether school safety, exam performance, rights of way, sports facilities or iconic bridges - Buchanan returns to the same thread: local democracy only matters if its outcomes are understood by the people affected. Her reporting distinguishes itself by staying close to committee rooms and budget papers while always showing the real-world stakes for pupils, families and communities.
4 more education journalists.
Ajit Niranjan
Ajit Niranjan links climate science, policy and hard numbers to how extreme weather and environmental damage disrupt daily life, public services and industry. He is European environment correspondent at the Guardian. His beat includes violent heat, pollution, wildfires, air quality, EU green policy, corporate responsibility, energy transition, clean home heating, public health and long-term risks to landscapes and ecosystems. He examines how lobbying, supply chains and regulation shape environmental harm, from data centres and fish farms to fossil fuel industries. His reporting covers schools, hospitals, transport, homes and infrastructure as climate stress points. He previously reported on climate for DW News. He combines data, scientific research, eyewitness accounts and on-the-ground reporting. He also produces explainers, dossiers, factsheets and Q&As that translate complex technical debates into clear, precise language.
Albert Tait
Albert Tait is Education Editor at The Telegraph, leading coverage of schools and universities as institutions whose decisions have direct consequences for staff and students. He focuses on how regulators, senior leaders and governing bodies respond when safety, standards or integrity are under scrutiny, and how those responses affect classrooms and lecture halls. His work links school inspections and teacher safety to regulatory frameworks and conditions on the ground, and he reports on incidents such as knife attacks and “Code Red” alerts with attention to immediate impact and emergency protocols. He produces multi-part investigations into university governance, including extensive reporting on Cambridge’s handling of Jason Arday’s appointment and resignation. He also covers curriculum debates such as changes in how scientists view evolution and inheritance. He began at The Telegraph as a news reporter and previously covered community news at a local paper.
Beth Kennedy
Beth Kennedy is editor at The PIE News and stands out for reporting on how UK policy, institutional strategy and new delivery models reshape international education. Her beat covers UK study visa rules, international student flows, Home Office and UCAS data, alternative study pathways, language schools, and mergers and acquisitions across the sector. She reports on the practical effects of visa changes, scholarship schemes, online and transnational education, school closures, job losses and sector consolidation. Her work is direct and data-led, with clear explanations of complex systems and a focus on what policy and market shifts mean for universities, language schools and private training organisations. She has over a decade in specialist media, including years reporting for primary healthcare professionals before joining The PIE in 2024.
Callum Clark
Callum Clark is a multimedia journalist at STV News who covers education through the lens of university finances, restructuring and their impact on students, staff and local services. He focuses on stories where cost‑saving plans, job losses and service closures reshape community life, such as Dundee University’s nursery and botanic garden closures, and sets those decisions within wider restructuring efforts. His reporting is direct and fact driven, built on official documents, statements and precise figures that show both the scale of savings targets and monthly losses, and the number of posts at risk. Clark’s background in local news and public service coverage, including mental health service reforms and redundancy schemes, shapes a methodical style that tracks formal processes while keeping the lived experience of workers, families and service users in view.