Comments on: No room for Web newbies?

By: Meranda Writes » Blog Archive » Don’t dismiss good journalists who don’t ‘get’ online just yet

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 05:10:18 +0000

[...] we have those saying it can’t be done and shouldn’t. In the other, they contend it should be. (And on and on. Read the comments on the posts, which are as enlightening as the posts [...]

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:43:39 +0000

I’m the “anonymous” poster who sparked this whole conversation on Mr. Conley’s Web site. My plea for training wasn’t aimed at learning how to blog or write stories for the Web. I can do that, just as I think most journalists these days are capable of doing. I’m more concerned about the technical skills that Paul has been preaching, i.e. Photoshop, video, html, Flash. I don’t think these are skills you can expect someone to learn entirely on his own. Paul’s suggestion that publishers dump the “dinosaurs” who aren’t proficient in these areas will leave a huge knowledge gap in the industry and ultimately hurt the credibility and quality of journalism.

By: Innovation in College Media » Blog Archive » You can ‘teach’ culture

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:29:21 +0000

[...] McAdams adds that she sees similar frustrations with student journalists: … I know what he means. Sometimes I despair at how many young students we lead to the [...]

By: Online Journalism Training for Journalists: Yes or No « The Dull Fig

Online Journalism Training for Journalists: Yes or No « The Dull Fig — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:07:33 +0000

[...] January 14, 2008 by Deb Mindy McAdams is having an interesting conversation about the retraining of journalists for online publications, here. [...]

By: Wenalway

Wenalway — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:04:42 +0000

You can’t fire everybody, but newspapers do need to fire the non-journalist, millstone design dolts who do nothing but hold back the newsrooms.

Then you could get real journalists into those spots and work on training for the 21st century. Right now, newspapers are still clinging to the old, failed ways of the design-based approach, and that will never change as long as witless pseudoeditors of presentation are allowed to have any say.

By: The Journalism Iconoclast » You can’t teach culture (Carnival of Journalism No. 2)

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:50:54 +0000

[...] Mind McAdams says even her students (mostly 18-21 in age) usually cannot be made to get it: Sometimes I despair at how many young students we lead to the multimedia trough only to see them decline to drink. Sometimes I feel like the only ones who “get it” are the ones who already “got it” before we got them. [...]

By: Mindy

Mindy — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:47:14 +0000

@Filip, Re: The conclusion I have after a couple of months is that, I can learn more from reading blogs of experienced journalists from the UK or US than from my course:

Some courses are definitely like that! But keep your eyes open to see what people say about courses they have attended. Some are much better than others. I do agree with you, we can ALL learn so much from the blogs of experienced online journalists — it’s really wonderful.

By: Mindy

Mindy — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:44:30 +0000

@Paul: This is where I’m right with you. Somebody who says, “Teach me how to blog,” ought to just quit today and get out of the way. Somebody who says, “I used the Microsoft tutorial and learned how to edit this video in Windows Movie Maker; the end result is not very good, but I did manage to upload it to YouTube,” should be given a comp day AND a training opportunity.

By: Paul Conley

Paul Conley — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:25:29 +0000

Hi Mindy,
In response to Dan’s comment: journalism has always been a sink or swim environment. As it should be. How long would any publication put up with someone who couldn’t spell? or couldn’t get names or quotes right? or couldn’t figure out how to operate Microsoft Word.
Yet everywhere I look — in newspapers, consumer mags and in B2B — I find employees who haven’t learned even the simplest of online tasks. And everywhere I look I find employees who think that fixing this is somehow the responsibility of their bosses.
Journalism will probably always require training in advanced skills. We cannot expect reporters to arrive on their first day with expertise in, say, management. If we’re going to promote people to senior positions, we’ll probably have to train them to do those jobs. The same may be true of a handful of reporting and storytelling skills — perhaps database reporting or advanced video editing. However, we shouldn’t have to train people in the BASIC skills. I don’t think we should be offering training in “writing for the Web” anymore than we should be offering training in “how to take notes at a news conference” or “The telephone: your connection to news sources.”

By: Filip

Filip — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 10:11:04 +0000

I’m from Poland and I would like to share with you some thoughts on this post. I’ve been a b2b journalist for nearly three years. Throughout that time, everything I’ve learnt, I’ve learnt myself. Some of my colleagues occasionally complained that they didn’t get any training from their company. I’ve always believed that if they really wanted to gain knowledge in journalism, all they had to do was to search for it on the Web and in the books. In my opinion it’s the specific character of this job. In other words, if you wanted to have your boss send you for special training, you should have started working in e.g. government administration. However, I must say that I also believe that special trainings for journalists are necessary. I, myself, decided to start a special year course like that (one of the Poland’s best), which meant travelling every two weeks for about 250 km to a different city. The conclusion I have after a couple of months is that, I can learn more from reading blogs of experienced journalists from the UK or US than from my course.