Archive for February, 2008
A little HTML never hurt anybody
A whole debate has sprung up on whether or not journalism schools should be teaching Dreamweaver and the basics of Web design. I’m not going to touch that debate today, but I am going to argue that every journalist should know a little HTML. Every journalist should know how to make a link, whether using [...]
Today’s thought: Are journalism schools honest?
Have journalism schools, and more specifically journalism professors, been honest with students about the state of journalism and the pay/benefits of the profession? Many readers tell me they were never apprised of the realities of journalism by their professors. Isn’t it an obligation that professors be honest about the state of journalism? Or are many [...]
Some journalists can’t be helped
File this post under the growing canon about how you can’t teach culture. Honestly, some journalists cannot be helped, and most of the people who believe that all journalists can be helped are journalists who desperately want to believe they have a future in modern journalism. The journalists who need the most amount of help [...]
Would you listen to a JI podcast?
I’ve been tossing around the idea of starting a weekly podcast to discuss many of the topics that appear on this blog. The podcast would discuss recent industry news, the state of journalism, developments in online journalism, Web development that pertains to journalism, blogging, social media and more. I’d also try to have at least [...]
Today’s thought: Journalism major worth it?
If you could do it all over again would you major in journalism? A journalism degree is not needed to be a journalist, and many journalism programs aren’t teaching the skills that journalists need to be competitive today, especially computer and Web skills. Most online journalists learned their Web skills on their own. Would a [...]
The NY Times has reasonable job postings
I wrote recently about how many newspapers have incredibly unrealistic job postings, especially for Web positions. Most of the papers with these unrealistic job openings (usually looking for Jesus Candidates) are smaller papers that don’t really have a clue how to make compelling Web content or how to hire appropriate Web talent. When I look [...]
Stanton already shaking up the LA Times
Russ Stanton has been at the helm of The Los Angeles Times for about a week, and he is already shaking things up. It’s too early to say whether or not his decisions will positively impact the Times, but it is clear that Stanton believes the status quo cannot continue. Most observers would agree that [...]
Today’s thought: I didn’t get a degree to be poor
What is with people constantly saying “I didn’t get into journalism to be rich?” Well, duh! But, I didn’t get a college degree to be poor either. Savvy? There is a huge difference between being rich and being poor. Many journalists struggle to make a legitimate middle-class living. That is something to complain about. We [...]
Angry journalists sound off on new blog
If you’re a journalist and you are angry about something — the state of journalism, your job, your boss, the people you cover, etc — then you should head on over to AngryJournalist.com and leave your thoughts. The blog sprung up a few days ago and appears to have been taking off the past few [...]
Today’s thought: Are the right leaders in place?
Can people who were in this industry before the advent of the Web be the ones to usher in the change that newspapers so desperately need? Aren’t those the kind of people who still think the old ways of doing things can still work? That all we need to do is buckle down a little? [...]