"Regional publisher Johnston Press has launched a county-wide website to help parents choose the right school for their children," reports HoldTheFrontPage.
On reading that - given that the county was Sussex, where I live half the year - I clicked on to the Education Sussex site.
At first glance, it looks good. We are told that each school featured on the site had been visited by journalists working for one of Johnston Press's 15 Sussex weeklies.
What a disappointment it turns out to be, however. Only 21 schools and colleges are featured (15 senior and six prep), of which a mere four are state-run.
I then searched for schools in Brighton and found none. I wondered why and emailed Paul Ashby, described in the Chichester Observer as digital manager for Johnston Press South.
He is quoted in that paper as saying: "We've created a unique authoritative platform. I'm confident the trusted reviews, professional videos and the open events will really benefit prospective parents and students across Sussex."
But Ashby's real title, "digital business development manager", gives the game away. The site isn't a public service aimed at helping parents after all. It's an advertising initiative, as he explains:
"All schools and colleges across Sussex can advertise on our new platform - we have spoken to schools in Brighton but no schools have been confirmed as yet."
He is happy with the "overwhelming feedback" from the 21 schools that have paid up to appear thus far. "We very much see this platform growing from strength to strength," he says.
Maybe. But unless it is more comprehensive, if you forgive the pun, it will not be good enough to live up to its claim to offer genuine help to parents.
As for the "trusted reviews", I called up several and soon found myself wading through puffery. Not a critical word among them. How does that aid parental selection?
