Comments on: Putting the geek into journalism http://www.reportr.net/2007/05/24/putting-the-geek-into-journalism/ This blog on media, society and technology is run by Professor Alfred Hermida, an award-winning online news pioneer, digital media scholar and journalism educator. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:28:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Alfred Hermida http://www.reportr.net/2007/05/24/putting-the-geek-into-journalism/comment-page-1/#comment-73 Alfred Hermida Tue, 12 Jun 2007 01:15:25 +0000 http://reportr.net/2007/05/24/putting-the-geek-into-journalism/#comment-73 That's a good point Nico. Journalists should learn about the web development and design process. I have tried to integrate some of these elements into the graduate journalism Masters at UBC. But there is still more to do. Journalism courses should include modules on innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as traditional news skills. That’s a good point Nico. Journalists should learn about the web development and design process. I have tried to integrate some of these elements into the graduate journalism Masters at UBC. But there is still more to do. Journalism courses should include modules on innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as traditional news skills.

]]> By: Nico Flores http://www.reportr.net/2007/05/24/putting-the-geek-into-journalism/comment-page-1/#comment-72 Nico Flores Mon, 11 Jun 2007 18:31:29 +0000 http://reportr.net/2007/05/24/putting-the-geek-into-journalism/#comment-72 Hi Alf In my humble view there are two things here. One is using technology as content, e.g. doing a nice one-off Flash presentation to illustrate a story. There I agree that journalists just need to understand what is possible and what is easy. Yes, the coder who puts it together is doing some form of journalism -especially if s/he contributed to the idea- but not in the sense of being mainly concerned with some aspect of the world of events out there. The other is about structuring ongoing editorial propositions, e.g. websites or parts of them. There the missing link is product-development, which afaik isn't a degree taught in j-schools. Being a journalist or a developer helps with that, but so does being a good marketer or designer; what matters is your ability to bridge the various disciplines, and to come up with products that work in your market. In fact, having one of these backgrounds may not even be strictly necessary - I can think of one or two brilliant counterexamples. Hi Alf

In my humble view there are two things here. One is using technology as content, e.g. doing a nice one-off Flash presentation to illustrate a story. There I agree that journalists just need to understand what is possible and what is easy. Yes, the coder who puts it together is doing some form of journalism -especially if s/he contributed to the idea- but not in the sense of being mainly concerned with some aspect of the world of events out there.

The other is about structuring ongoing editorial propositions, e.g. websites or parts of them. There the missing link is product-development, which afaik isn’t a degree taught in j-schools. Being a journalist or a developer helps with that, but so does being a good marketer or designer; what matters is your ability to bridge the various disciplines, and to come up with products that work in your market. In fact, having one of these backgrounds may not even be strictly necessary – I can think of one or two brilliant counterexamples.

]]> By: c http://www.reportr.net/2007/05/24/putting-the-geek-into-journalism/comment-page-1/#comment-71 c Sun, 10 Jun 2007 03:37:51 +0000 http://reportr.net/2007/05/24/putting-the-geek-into-journalism/#comment-71 This sounds like a great idea, however as a photojournalist and one who will seemingly be baring the brunt of all the new changes...web 2.0 content is very visual... I am a bit overwhelmed...where does on begin to get one's feet wet? Perl, PHP, Ruby on Rails? Where does on begin? This sounds like a great idea, however as a photojournalist and one who will seemingly be baring the brunt of all the new changes…web 2.0 content is very visual… I am a bit overwhelmed…where does on begin to get one’s feet wet? Perl, PHP, Ruby on Rails?
Where does on begin?

]]> By: Wordblog » Blog Archive » News program for geeks http://www.reportr.net/2007/05/24/putting-the-geek-into-journalism/comment-page-1/#comment-70 Wordblog » Blog Archive » News program for geeks Sat, 26 May 2007 08:02:44 +0000 http://reportr.net/2007/05/24/putting-the-geek-into-journalism/#comment-70 [...] "Putting the geek into journalism" is how Alfred Hermida neatly put its. He writes: The idea came from Professor Rich Gordon, who recognises that journalism in a digital age needs people who understand both journalism and technology. This does not necessarily means that every journalist needs to be able to code in Perl or some other computer language. But the industry needs people with an understanding of emerging technologies to develop new forms of journalism. [...] [...] "Putting the geek into journalism" is how Alfred Hermida neatly put its. He writes: The idea came from Professor Rich Gordon, who recognises that journalism in a digital age needs people who understand both journalism and technology. This does not necessarily means that every journalist needs to be able to code in Perl or some other computer language. But the industry needs people with an understanding of emerging technologies to develop new forms of journalism. [...]

]]> By: feartheseeds http://www.reportr.net/2007/05/24/putting-the-geek-into-journalism/comment-page-1/#comment-69 feartheseeds Fri, 25 May 2007 04:08:10 +0000 http://reportr.net/2007/05/24/putting-the-geek-into-journalism/#comment-69 "...scholarships for computer programmers and web developers to pursue a master’s degree in journalism..." That's exactly what's needed to expand the reporting industry... the College I graduated from had an extensive, for the era, tech component for the journalism program -- HTML, web design courses, other courses I probably missed -- but I always thought it'd be easier to teach a techie/web designer about the concepts of journalism rather than the other way round. “…scholarships for computer programmers and web developers to pursue a master’s degree in journalism…”

That’s exactly what’s needed to expand the reporting industry… the College I graduated from had an extensive, for the era, tech component for the journalism program — HTML, web design courses, other courses I probably missed — but I always thought it’d be easier to teach a techie/web designer about the concepts of journalism rather than the other way round.

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