Online training in digital journalism: The dichotomy between academia and industry approaches

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Mu Lin

For people seeking web-based training in digital storytelling skills, they will find that online journalism courses offered by colleges are long and may have “unwanted stuffs,” and online training offered by for-profit training organizations are short, focused and more up-to-date.

When preparing for my summer project – a free, online, open digital skills training program, I conducted some web searches to find out how other institutions are doing online courses in digital or multimedia journalism.

Continue reading →

Posted in Industry observation, Social media marketing | Leave a comment

A journalism graduate’s reflections on digital skills and j-school education

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Mu Lin

Let’s hear from people on the ground about skills and education needed for a journalism job today – Andrea Gillhoolley, a 2005 Penn State University graduate majoring in journalism, now a reporter for Lebanon Daily News in Lebanon, Pa., shares her story on how she learns digital skills on her own as she goes, and her ideas about how j-schools can better teach/prepare students for jobs like hers.

I had a Twitter conversation with Andrea and believe what she says to me is of use to most other journalism educators and students. Below is a compilation of Andrea’s tweets in answering two of my questions: Continue reading →

Posted in Digital journalism education, Industry observation | Leave a comment

Journalism schools are best positioned to be market leaders in web-based content training

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Mu Lin

There will be growing demands for content trainings from institutions that want to engage target audiences, and journalism schools should seize this opportunity; that’s my argument in a previous post. To continue on that topic – j-schools are positioned to be leaders in the web-based content training market, because they already possess two components of an online training model – curriculum and instructors, as shown in the diagram below.

online journalism training Continue reading →

Posted in Social media marketing | 2 Comments

Future of journalism education lies in content training for institutions, not journalism training for news media

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Mu Lin

Growing demands for journalism training will come from institutions that are eager to reach and engage the public. To stay ahead of the curve, a journalism program needs to expand its curriculum focus to include content training for institutions, and to offer such training to both degree and non-degree students.

The diagram below compares the focus of journalism education before and after the explosion of web, social media and mobile devices: Continue reading →

Posted in Digital journalism education, Social media marketing | 2 Comments

Survey: Only a few colleges see the need for all communication students to take digital skill courses

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Mu Lin

While many journalism/communication programs are still wrestling with how to incorporate digital skills into the journalism (and only journalism) curriculum, University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication requires all majors (advertising, communication studies, journalism, PR) to take a set of three digital skill courses. This is what I found in a survey of 13 colleges/schools of journalism/communication in U.S. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital journalism education | 3 Comments

Survey shows many PR programs do not offer digital journalism training, and they should

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Mu Lin

In a survey of 20 largest universities with a public relations major in U.S., I only found three programs that offer digital journalism training to PR majors. This must be changed – PR professionals now need to be well-versed with the same digital skills that are expected of (digital) journalists. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital journalism education | Leave a comment

How AP Mobile and Guardian apps present multimedia contents and interactivity on smartphones

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Mu Lin

On the web, a multimedia news story usually provides an interactive, rich media user experience – an interactive interface where visitors can explore various contents: texts, photo gallery, audio slideshow, video, audio, data visualization, etc. On mobile devices, though, it is a challenge to deliver similar rich media and interactivity. That’s why many news apps only have texts and photos, and not much interactivity.

Among the news apps I have on my iPhone 4S, the Guardian and AP Mobile are the two apps that feature more multimedia contents than other news apps, and AP Mobile, at times, has news stories that combine interactivity and rich media. Continue reading →

Posted in Mobile news reporting | Leave a comment

Blogging should be required of all journalism students to develop in-depth beat knowledge

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Mu Lin

Blogging is the best way for journalism students to develop in-depth knowledge in a particular area. Blogging should be structured as a required component of journalism curriculum. Students can try this content strategy for their blogs – anchor project and related posts.

A marketable skill set of journalism students needs to include journalism training, digital skills and in-depth subject (beat) knowledge. In comparison with news and digital trainings, beat knowledge is much harder to come by, yet highly desired by media employers. If done right, a blog can best demonstrate a student’s beat expertise to potential employers. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital journalism education, Writing for the web | 3 Comments

Digital skills a newspaper managing editor expects of new reporters

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Mu Lin

In a Twitter conversation with me (@mututemple), Chicago Sun-Times managing editor Craig Newman (@craignewman) shared his expectations of the multitude of digital expertise for a new hire. Continue reading →

Posted in Industry observation | 1 Comment

Metadata texts for Google, social media and content curation: An overlooked part of writing for the web

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Mu Lin

An often overlooked part of web writing is the “invisible texts” of an article – metadata for search engines, social media sharing, and content curation. Articles with well-written metadata stand a better chance of being read and shared online. Metadata text writing should be part of the essential skill set for newsroom editors and web writers. Continue reading →

Posted in Writing for the web | 1 Comment