Comments on: Want to be a reporter? Learn to code

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 06:03:38 +0000

Well there’s udacity and the newest player learnstreet.com. Looks like coding will soon become the universal language to communicate cutting across geos and professions! Nicely writte tho Barb

By: sam

sam — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:29:32 +0000

how do i learn coding

By: Rajesh Moorjani

Rajesh Moorjani — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 15:51:51 +0000

Programr is the place to go to to learn coding online.
Covers 12+ languages including Android and iOS.
http://www.programr.com

By: Linda Gardner Crandall

Linda Gardner Crandall — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 14:18:41 +0000

Right on Dan!

By: Smoley

Smoley — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 14:40:02 +0000

Agreed. Asking a content creator to also acquire the skills to present that content is nonsense. Do the past Pulitzer Prize winners know how to typeset and operate a modern printing press? I doubt it.

There are monkeys all over the globe that can write code at the level you’re asking of these journalists, but very few can create written content worth reading. Let the journalists do what they do best – write, not fumble around with HTML and JScript.

Sincerely,
A software engineer of 20+ years.

By: Jenna Levy

Jenna Levy — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 03:55:52 +0000

I think that the advancement of code is astonishing. Read today that in Estonia, they’re teaching it in first grade now. Way to educate the world’s leaders! Imagine the coding necessary on one of these bad boys- http://en.community.dell.com/dell-blogs/direct2dell/b/direct2dell/archive/2012/08/29/evolution-of-monitors-teletype-to-led.aspx?dgc=SM&cid=80208&lid=4446496&utm_source=buffer&buffer_share=a04cc

By: Dan Tobias

Dan Tobias — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 03:14:09 +0000

This is the craziest idea I have ever heard. I guess next everyone should learn to be a mechanic to fix their car and everyone should learn some surgical skills to operate on their internal wounds. Maybe we should learn some mechanical and electrical engineering the next time our dishwasher goes on the blink.

Programmers should build applications for journalists so they don’t need to code, they can use the app to create and publish content in any format. The problem here is that software programmers aren’t doing their job. Their job is to code so we don’t have to.

Journalists should learn to write and tell a story first. Check that, learn to think first. Then let’s talk about coding.

By: Ed Hecht

Ed Hecht — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 18:37:08 +0000

I don’t doubt the utility of such a skill set for journalists, or even the the population at large. But the need is somewhat mitigated by the several CMS’s out there (WordPress, Buddypress, Joomla, Drupal). Coding for apps will fast become just as important as coding for the web. The former should already be taught in junior high on up, IMHO.

By: BreAnna Paige Boyd

BreAnna Paige Boyd — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 14:12:31 +0000

I concur! Every one should know a great deal of coding, no matter the field of study. Technology is continuously advancing. We should advance with it.

By: Barb Darrow

Barb Darrow — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:57:13 +0000

thanks nick… i actually think there’s demand for both basic coding (html etc.) and still more demand for more specialized skills along the lines of data analysis …. not sure any publication can afford to train its reporters to be
data scientists but there’s some middle ground there, no?

thanks for your comment.