Beyond the basics: Training future journalists in social media

Posted by Stefanie Chernow on August 31, 2010 at 5:04 PM

Multimedia trends in journalism are changing the foundation of how reporting is conducted, and consequently journalism schools across the globe have seen a shift in their curriculum. In April, UK's National Council for Training Journalist launched a new journalism diploma with an emphasis on multimedia training. The University of Colorado also announced last week the possibility of restructuring its journalism department to include computer science courses. The changes in journalism education are underway, but what is happening with regards to training in social media? Professionals are still trying to adjust to the technology in the industry, thus those in academia must teach multimedia while they are in the process of learning how to master the new technologies.

MediaShift recently launched Beyond J-School onto its blog, which will cover issues of multimedia education and training in journalism. Its debut article, "How to Teach Social Media in Journalism Schools," it provides some important themes for students to master to become professionals. "Clearly there is more to social media in the classroom than technology. Central to teaching social media is providing an understanding of how these digital tools affect the way students actually do journalism."

Beyond J-School stresses the importance between using social media as a personal tool for professional reporting. "Students use social media in their daily lives, with Facebook an almost permanent fixture on the computer screen. Yet they tend not to think about social media as part of their professional toolkit as journalists." The difference between journalists and amateurs is the former should be trained not just in how to use social platforms, but how to evaluate incoming information and how to build a social network of followers.

Reputation management needs to be added to the journalism curriculum, as journalists' online identity could make or break their credibility. Students were encouraged to "Google" themselves and their peers, noting their web portfolio along with any unsavory information that employers might see. Another class assignment required students to create and use a wiki site to aggregate class notes. "By participating, the students learned about collaborative writing but also became aware of questions about the credibility of content produced by others."

The academia of journalism requires an in-depth analysis of multimedia in a hands-on setting. At Syracuse University, masters students were given an assignment to create a 60 second report on life in Syracuse, writes Journalism 2.0. Students had to use Newsgarden, a social mapping platform that would familiarize the journalists with technologies of geolocation. Skills journalist at Syracuse University learned during their "Secs in the City" project can easily be applied to real-life situations, such as how to report on natural disasters or how to effectively use crowdsourcing.

Clearly the changes in journalism education offer exciting opportunities, even if the transition to incorporate multimedia is a little shaky. "In the classroom, we need to stress that social media technologies do not just offer journalists new ways of doing old things," affirms Beyond J-School. "They offer the potential to explore new ways of telling stories, of collaborating and connecting with audiences, of rethinking how we do journalism."

Sources: MediaShift, Journalism 2.0