Comments on: Helping Journalists Thrive, Network, And Collaborate On The Web http://blog.publish2.com/2007/08/28/helping-journalists-thrive-network-and-collaborate-on-the-web/ Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:40:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Tom Foremski http://blog.publish2.com/2007/08/28/helping-journalists-thrive-network-and-collaborate-on-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-103 Tom Foremski Sun, 16 Sep 2007 03:39:01 +0000 http://blog.publish2.com/2007/08/28/helping-journalists-thrive-network-and-collaborate-on-the-web/#comment-103 Scott, I've been writing about this for a couple of years and I came to the conclusion that today's journalists need to have some of the skills of a software engineer. I call it a media engineer. You don't need to be a software engineer but you need to know some html, some CSS definately, how RSS works, and a few other skills. You don't need to know all these things in great detail but you should know the basics. These are all media technologies, they help us publish and collect. Most journalists, however can barely type, most use two-fingers. And they certainly can't spell. But they know how to craft compelling stories (at least the ones that are still employed.) Combine that skill with a few media engineering skills and you have an excellent, interesting and highly paid job. Better paid than journalism, even if you work for one of the A-list newspapers such as my alma mater the Financial Times. Scott, I’ve been writing about this for a couple of years and I came to the conclusion that today’s journalists need to have some of the skills of a software engineer. I call it a media engineer. You don’t need to be a software engineer but you need to know some html, some CSS definately, how RSS works, and a few other skills.

You don’t need to know all these things in great detail but you should know the basics. These are all media technologies, they help us publish and collect.

Most journalists, however can barely type, most use two-fingers. And they certainly can’t spell. But they know how to craft compelling stories (at least the ones that are still employed.) Combine that skill with a few media engineering skills and you have an excellent, interesting and highly paid job. Better paid than journalism, even if you work for one of the A-list newspapers such as my alma mater the Financial Times.

]]> By: David Cohn http://blog.publish2.com/2007/08/28/helping-journalists-thrive-network-and-collaborate-on-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-70 David Cohn Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:09:17 +0000 http://blog.publish2.com/2007/08/28/helping-journalists-thrive-network-and-collaborate-on-the-web/#comment-70 The job description is definitely changing. Journalists have an <a href="http://www.digidave.org/adventures_in_freelancing/2007/08/journalism-th-1.html" rel="nofollow">entirely new skill set</a> to learn. I don't think anybody denies that anymore. The question is how we will teach that. I think it requires more than just starting a blog. Engaging in and learning how to manage communities is a skill -- Craig Newmark, Jimmy Wales, Kevin Rose and other web 2.0 darlings know it -- where are the entrepreneurial journalists? If we don't get in the game, the job description won't change -- the profession will. I still look forward to seeing what you guys come up with at Pub2.0. I hope it fits the bill. The job description is definitely changing. Journalists have an entirely new skill set to learn. I don’t think anybody denies that anymore. The question is how we will teach that. I think it requires more than just starting a blog. Engaging in and learning how to manage communities is a skill — Craig Newmark, Jimmy Wales, Kevin Rose and other web 2.0 darlings know it — where are the entrepreneurial journalists? If we don’t get in the game, the job description won’t change — the profession will.

I still look forward to seeing what you guys come up with at Pub2.0. I hope it fits the bill.

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