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Digital DemandsResearch Associates International.One in 10 newsrooms provides notraining at all.Yet nine in 10 journalists say theyneed more training and nine in 10 newsexecutives agree. The executives—typicallyamong the more experiencedand knowledgeable journalists—saythey need more training themselves,particularly in management and newmedia. Lack of training is the top sourceof job dissatisfaction among journalists,ahead of pay and benefits.The Value of NewsroomTrainingNews organizations that haveincreased training budgets tendto take a more sophisticatedapproach, the survey found.These organizations train theirstaffs with specific goals in mind,have a training coordinator,and receive higher-than-averagefeedback from their staffs for thetraining that is offered.That finding echoes what weand other program directors inKnight’s $10 million NewsroomTraining Initiative learned between2003 and 2006. The initiative, whichincludes Tomorrow’s Workforce, TheLearning Newsroom, and PoynterInstitute’s News University, demonstratedin dozens of newsrooms thattraining linked to actionable goals andencouraged by forward-looking leadershipdrives innovation and audienceappeal by improving newsroom cultureand news content. The culture changeis key to learning and reinvention,including development of print anddigital content that is more engagingto audiences with links to many informationsources.Many of the newspapers, large andsmall, that were part of the Knightinitiative found that an investment intraining paid off. Among them:• The Herald-Times in Bloomington,Indiana (circulation 29,000) participatedin The Learning Newsroomproject and designated a staff memberto coordinate training just fivehours a week. This training helpedthe newsroom become more adaptiveand creative. Editor Bob Zaltsbergcites training as a factor in a10 percent increase in single-copysales of the newspaper and a robustdrive to improve the Web site.• The Waco Tribune-Herald (circulation38,000), a Tomorrow’s Workforcepartner, achieved a moreconstructive culture that helpedthe staff embrace online journalismquickly and enthusiastically. EditorCarlos Sanchez said increasing thetraining also resulted in a 40 percentdecline in turnover, which had been… training linked to actionablegoals and encouraged by forwardlookingleadership drives innovationand audience appeal by improvingnewsroom culture and news content.a significant drain on money andmanagement time.• One year after boosting its trainingin 2005, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution(circulation 350,000),another Tomorrow’s Workforcepartner, doubled the number ofbeat watchdog stories to 90 per yearand turned its front page from onedominated by standard institutionalstories to one that featured moreengaging story forms. Improvedculture and communication at thepaper help to drive the newsroom’saggressive push onto its Web site.“The common understanding, thecommon language, the common sortof culture that you get from trainingeverybody in the consistent way wehave is a really big deal,” says BertRoughton, managing editor/print atthe Journal-Constitution.• The Oregonian (circulation310,000), working with Tomorrow’sWorkforce, developed a staff-drivenbeat-reporting curriculum. “Ourbeat reporting has sharpened reporters’sense of news and abilityto mine daily and enterprise stories,says Editor Sandy Rowe. “We are,more than ever, holding people andinstitutions accountable throughdocument-driven reporting.”The lesson from successes such asthese is a simple one: When editorsunderstand how necessary training is toachieve their goals, they will find waysto make sure it gets accomplished. MikeJenner, executive editor of the highlyinnovative Bakersfield Californian(circulation 61,000) shares this view.He and his staff, working withThe Learning Newsroom, radicallyimproved its newsroomculture while pushing morenews content onto the Web.By mid-November 2006, theCalifornian staff had produced600 online videos that led to120,000 downloads. By comparison,a year earlier the staffhad produced just six videos.“Our overall page views are up,”says Jenner. “Our posts and ourcomments are way up on ourblogs. And downloads of our videosare through the stratosphere.”For Jenner, training made the difference.“This is a different place than itwas a year ago, two years ago,” Jennersays. “Training is really what’s gottenus where we are today.” Michele McLellan, a 2002 NiemanFellow, is founder and director ofTomorrow’s Workforce. Tim Porter isassociate director. This article wasadapted from their book “News, Improved:How America’s NewsroomsAre Learning to Change,” publishedby CQ Press in March 2007. For moreinformation, go to www.newsimproved.orgNieman Reports / Fall 2007 91