Posted Dec. 18, 2002

Journalists want more training. But will they get it, in a business driven by deadlines and bottom lines? Marvin Kalb and a panel of media executives and journalists explored the topic at the National Press Club on Dec. 16.

The five panelists at “The Kalb Report” agreed that newsroom training is critical to improving a product and sustaining readership levels, yet, in rough economic times, this training is one of the first budget items cut.

From left, Christopher Schroeder, CEO and publisher of Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive; Richard Sisk, national security correspondent for the New York Daily News; Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio Television News Directors Association; Marvin Kalb; Frank Denton, editor of The Wisconsin State Journal; and Caesar Andrews, editor of Gannett News Service.

“Most American newspapers don’t have a budget for training because most are small,” said Frank Denton, editor of The Wisconsin State Journal. “We have a budget, but we don’t know how much to budget because there’s no model for it. We put it in, but when advertising revenues fall off, it’s the first thing that’s cut.”

Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio Television News Directors Association, said reporters, editors, and producers need to make the argument that training helps the bottom line of an organization by producing a better product and retaining employees. She said many journalists feel underappreciated by their corporate bosses.

“These have been very tough times,” Cochran said. “The fact is that the public doubts our credibility, that budgets have been cut. People are being asked to do more with less and asked to master new technologies that they never studied. One of the benefits of investing in professional development is that it’s a way for our journalism companies to tell the people working in the field that they believe in them. That they’re valuable.”

Today’s journalism needs to meet the 24-hour news cycle, creating pressure on editorial teams to produce quality work, noted Christopher Schroeder, CEO and publisher of WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive. However, even though there is an around-the-clock culture for news, Denton said readers and viewers spend less time perusing the news.

“We need to find a way to become more of a breaking culture while at the same time not compromising our very strong belief that we have to be right,” Schroeder said.

“The fact is, (readers) are not satisfied,” said Caesar Andrews, editor of Gannett News Service. “In many instances, there is a disconnect between what we do and what we attempt to do. Training will get us to quality journalism, but we are not there yet.”

Richard Sisk, national security correspondent for the New York Daily News, said one of the best ways to learn journalism is “by osmosis,” namely by spending time with people on a reporter’s beat. He recounted his recent trip to Norfolk, Va., where he spent time with the Navy.

“Is (training) something that has to be set aside?” Sisk asked. “I don’t know. Do organizations have the resources?”

Denton, who leads the midsize newspaper in Wisconsin, cited three kinds of training: broad-based training from school; skills-training such as reporting, writing, interviewing, and photograpy; and general education so journalists can communicate intelligently with readers and viewers.

“The world is becoming a more complicated place,” Denton said.“We’re dealing with issues we never thought we would. We need to learn new techniques.

“The Kalb Report,” which is underwritten by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is co-sponsored by The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, The Joan Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University and the National Press Club. GW and the National Press Club have produced 31 programs in the “The Kalb Report” series since 1994. Forums have covered issues at the intersection of public policy and the press, including talk show democracy and covering the private lives of public officials.

©2002 The George Washington University Office of University Relations, Washington, D.C.
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