Posted Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 4:13 p.m. by Chris Amico in Projects about journalism and programming
Columbia University will soon offer a new dual masters degree in journalism and engineering, with the goal of cranking out more programmer-journalists, Wired reported yesterday.
This is good. It builds on the success of Medill's Knight-funded experiment offering scholarships to software developers to learn journalism. That's to be lauded.
But... (you knew there was a "but" coming)
Those getting dual degrees shouldn't be the only journalists hanging out with computer scientists. The problem isn't just a lack of reporters who can code, but a shortage of people in the newsroom who know what's possible.
I'm skeptical of graduate programs generally, in part because I'm a programmer journalist without any formal degree in programming or journalism. Maybe I'm an oddity, but (professionally, at least) I don't think I'm that odd. Picking up extra skills on the job (or between jobs) isn't outside the traditions of journalism, and there's no reason technical skills should be viewed differently from writing, photography or multimedia.
So, yes to dual-degree programs. Yes to mixing computer science and social science. But don't let lack of an engineering degree (or the fact that one exists) stop you from learning to code.
Looking for a place to start? Here's what you should know. Get to it.
apr 9, 2010 at 9:43 a.m. // Pete said:
There is a lot of discussion currently buzzing around the 'need' for journalists to learn programming skills.
But why don't journalists simply work with real programmers to build the tools that they need?
What is it that we (I am a journalist) require that demands having coding skills ourselves?
apr 9, 2010 at 9:55 a.m. // Chris Amico said:
Pete, I think Matt Waite answered that question pretty well a couple years back: http://mattwaite.com/posts/2007/jun/07/journalists-needdont-need-learn-programming/
apr 13, 2010 at 11:53 a.m. // Pete said:
Thanks Chris. As it happens, I don't find Matt's argument especially persuasive; it might equally be applied to becoming a video editor, or a photographer - i.e. it behooves anyone to acquire more skills.
However, I was more impressed by the blog post he links to from William Hartnett: http://www.wmhartnett.com/2007/06/06/journalists-do-need-to-know-computer-programming/
Hartnett gives a couple of examples where the existing information sources / tools available to journalists might not give them what they need, and how being able to do some data sorting functions would help.
That said, I'm still not convinced that such predicaments might arise with sufficient frequency to justify investing the time in acquiring the skills.