Journalism Schools Wake Up To Need For Media Engineers
By Tom Foremski - May 12, 2009
About four years ago I began writing about the need for "media engineers" a skill set that is part journalist and part software engineer. Software skills should be part of a modern journalist's toolbox. (My first job was as a software engineer 29 years ago.)
Aug 17 2005 Journalists need to learn to speak some geek. . .
...journalists barely know how to type, or even how to spell...
Most journalists don't know a lick of HTML or even much about their software and hardware beyond the basics familiar to a 10-year-old.
That's going to have to change as the print/broadcast world, on which journalism was built, becomes a mostly online mediasphere.
Journalists are going to have to learn to speak some geek, because increasingly, they will not only be researching and writing, but also producing and editing and publishing online too.
Aug 19 2005 The coming era of the media engineer and media entrepreneur
This is now the era of the media engineer and media entrepreneur because the future is all about technology-enabled media companies.
[Oh, and BTW, every future company is a technology-enabled media company
It's been a long wait but I was very happy to see this article by Leena Rao over at TechCrunch: Calling All Coders: Journalism Schools Want You To Save The News Industry
Northwestern University's journalism school is offering free scholarships to software developers so they can further hone their journalism skills and possibly integrate the two for a media company down the line.
...The idea of creating programmers who understand journalism is compelling and brings attention to an important trend taking place in the industry.
Hyperlocal news site Everyblock and the St. Petersburg Times' truth finding political database Politifact were both built by developers with journalism backgrounds. Their model falls on the heels of Politifact, started by coder-turned-journalist Matt Waite, which won a Pulitzer Prize this year for national reporting.
It's taken many years for the journalism establishment to recognize the need for these skills. However, I think they have the cart before the horse.
Journalism takes time to learn. You don't need a journalism degree but you do need time to hone story telling skills. I would argue that it is easier to teach "geek" to journalists than the other way around.
I'd like to see more journalism schools offer classes in HTML, CSS, PHP, etc, to journalism students.
Software engineers don't need to know how to be journalists to be succesful. But journalists certainly do need to know some "media engineering" skills to succeed in today's world.
- - -
Please see:
Ten Basic New Media Skills Journalists Need To Know
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Comments (4)
A number of years ago, I graduated with a degree in Communication with a PR emphasis. I have come to realize that my degree taught me tactical methods only; brochures, traditional press releases, newsletters, and PSA�s. It taught us how to conduct accurate, measurable, correctly sampled, within acceptable margin of error, EXPENSIVE and tedious research.
Everything I learned is a far cry from how I actually operate today. Anything pertaining to new media, understanding technology and learning to stay viable in a digital climate was glossed over. We were not required to learn any software speak, no HTML, no CSS, no PHP, nobody knew anything about creating a user group, Linux, most of my classmates could barely navigate a PC. I was the only person who even knew what HTML meant, much less could feebly eek out code.
Now I'm astonished by the blatant ignorance of my school of the impending digital media age. The decline in traditional newspaper circulation was acknowledged often, but never addressed. We were taught to be aware, but not to proactively ensure we stayed viable, competitive and employable.
It's all about integration, there are hardly any real lines between the disciplines anymore
Posted: May 12, 2009 9:14 PM
Let's face it, deep geek skills can enhance any discipline.
Geek mode would, I guess, not suit most journalists. Instead of backward integrating they could go the other way, and obtain specialised knowledge in real-world domains - say medicine, or politics, or business. This would help their credibility.
Look at the failure of most journalists to report timeously on the financial crisis! They reported the status-quo-supporting opinions of theoreticians because they lack the knowledge to check out the data themselves!
Posted: May 13, 2009 3:10 AM
Great post. In 2005, I was in the first batch of students in a very experimental Journalism MA at Columbia. http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/cs/ContentServer/jrn/1165270052332/page/1165270052391/JRNSimplePage2.htm
That program was built on the recognition that in today's complex world, journalists need to have a deeper understanding of their fields. We were trained in statistics, academic research methods, and many other key areas.
In the business/economics track, we went into depth on how to read financial documents, as well as taking courses in accounting and marketing through the Columbia Business School. We did receive some training in HTML as well, though that was not emphasized. Still, to me this program is a step in the right direction and should be emulated/expanded upon at other schools.
Posted: May 14, 2009 1:17 PM
It's just a matter of few years that a journalist may not be able to survive in the industry without multiple skills. This is the objective with which I have designed a post-graduate course in electronic media at the University of Mumbai, India. I would love to get a feedback from you all on the same. Just go to http://mcjmumbai.org/maem.htm. I think this course will enable my students to tackle all forms of electronic media and also prepare them for the future.
Posted: June 1, 2009 5:49 AM