Download issue (PDF) - Nieman Foundation - Harvard University

Teaching JournalismPushing and Prodding Latin American JournalismSchools to ChangeA Colombian journalist makes it more likely that students will learn how to ‘thinkonline’ so they will be prepared to enter the job market in this digital era.By Guillermo FrancoNot too long ago, C. Max Magee,when he was a graduate studentat Northwestern University’sMedill School of Journalism, focusedhis research for his master’s degreeprogram on the topic of “The Roles ofJournalists in Online Newsrooms.” 1 Itwas an attempt, Magee explains, “todefine which skills and intangible characteristicsare most important in onlinenewsrooms.” His findings came fromonline surveys he conducted in 2005with 438 people who work for onlinenews sites. His goal was to identify “theskills and characteristics that hiringmanagers are looking for” and also tolearn what online journalists need toknow and do in the context of theirtypical workday.Magee’s survey identified 35 skillsthat he divided into four categories:1. Attitudes and Intangibles2. Editing and Copyediting Skills3. Content Creation4. Online Production ToolsDespite his precise recording of thecomparative usefulness of each of theseskills—and his helpful assessment ofhow and why many “old” skills still mattergreatly—what Magee learned fromonline journalists is that the technicalaspects of their work are not whatsets them and their work apart fromthose working in “old media.” Insteadit is “a different way of thinking” thatis characterized by “a willingness tolearn new things, multitasking andteamwork.” When summed up, theonline journalists’ attributes amountedto the ability to “think online,” pairedwith convincing “others to do thesame.” It is these qualities that thosewho are hiring journalists for onlinemedia are seeking in applicants whocome their way.To think about Magee’s findings—and his conclusions—is to challengesome of the ways in which our universitiesand graduate school programsin Colombia, and in the rest of LatinAmerica, now approach the teachingand training of future journalists. It’svery clear from studies such as this one(and other less rigorous ones conductedin Latin America) that students need tobecome actively engaged with onlinejournalism. This means not only encouragingthem to immerse themselvesin what it is producing but also to helpthem analyze what they are reading andseeing and hearing. Additionally, theyactually need to be producing it as partof their classroom experience.Yet little of this appears to be happeningin many of the 1,300 communicationand journalism schoolsthat exist throughout Latin America.Financial considerations—figuring outhow to get the highest possible incomefrom students—has convinced manyprograms on this continent to offercertificates and postgraduate studyprograms with pompous names anddubious quality without touching theundergraduate programs, which iswhere education designed to promote“digital thinking” should start.One problem in having this happenis that to develop these online competencieswould mean that many journalismprograms would need to redefinetheir academic curricula. And this taskwould reside with scholars who, for themost part, are not prepared to do whatis necessary to push their programsinto the digital age. Often today, thestudents criticize their professors andadministrators for not having contactwith the “real” world of journalism, andthis criticism is aimed at their separationeven from traditional media.Another consequence of gaining thislevel of understanding about onlinejournalism is knowing that when studentsleave journalism programs thenewsrooms they enter—if they evenenter a newsroom at all—will definejobs in new ways. And the roles theyassume are likely to be expanded asopportunities for serving other communities—suchas online social groupsand niche audiences—evolve. Job opportunitiesmight also open up at Websites looking for people to “managecontent” in order for them to sell theirproducts or services through the Webor to figure out how to use content incorporate Intranets, to mention a fewpossible directions.The emerging journalist’s multimediaabilities should go hand-in-handwith the spirit of an entrepreneur,and the attributes of entrepreneurshipshould be nurtured at college,too. Given the kind of less structuredenvironment in which these graduateswill be working in the future, acquiringthese skills would provide morecomfort for them in taking risks as theycreate new ways of distributing whatthey produce.1http://journalist.org/news/archives/MedillOnlineJobSurvey-final.pdf88 Nieman Reports / Fall 2007