The 9-to-5-ization of Journalism

Among my favorite newsroom cliches is this one: "I didn't get into this field to work a 9-to-5." Translation: The money ain't that good, so I don't want a desk job and sure as hell won't wear a tie." Nothing's changed on the latter front (though anecdotal evidence says journalists are dressing better these days ... who knows when you'll be on cable news). But with the growing popularity of blogging, reporters are becoming accustomed to a more traditional work schedule -- or maybe they're now working both days and nights.

Used to be the reporter's day really heated up (deadline standard time -- another of those cliches) only when the rest of the country was clocking out. No longer. Journalists are being asked to feed their blogs throughout the day to keep the working folk up to date. It's not uncommon for reporters to file a roundup of links before 9 a.m. The way editors see it, the news has to be there when the reader wants it most -- when they get into work and during their lunch break.

As my friend who works at ESPN.com jokes, his job performance is measured by how much productivity decreases at offices across the country. He's transitioned from a schedule where he'd most often be working from 4-11 to one where he's on from 8 till dark.

There are, of course, still the night editors, weekend anchors and all-hours producers to keep the field from getting too much in lock step. But the growth seems to be in 9-to-5 content providers (ughh, speaking of ugly phrases.)

The common complaint is that the constant updates are just extending the work day. But for those who are actually clocking out around 5, this marks a new day for journalists -- they can actually see their kids.

Should J-Schools Teach Blogging?

By any measure, it's been a trying few years for journalism and j-schools. No need to rehash the past, but it's worth talking about pedagogy of the future. Namely, blogging. It's already here in a big way at national publications -- just count the number of reporters churning out bite-sized news nuggets for their blogs about the Democratic National Convention this week.

And, in my estimation, it's not long until every beat reporter at a major daily/Web pub/radio station/local TV station is required to post news/analysis several times a day. In some cases it might help them do their jobs better by pushing sources for constant information, and by forcing them to figure out in real-time what news is most important. It might also be considered a hindrance -- how does one flesh out a multi-source feature article on deadline while also feeding a blog?

With beat blogging becoming a fixture, what's a j-school to do? Blogging has been worked into the curriculum for years, but it's yet to become a mainstay. Should it be taught as part of newswriting courses? Should there even be a separate course?

I'd break down the issue into two questions:

1. Should j-schools teach students how to quickly process information, write and edit? Yes, yes and yes. At the summer journalism program where I teach, an exercise called "rotating rewrites" calls upon students to take a series of facts and work them into a one-sentence news lead. Students are asked to write and rewrite that lead until we the instructors think they have it right. To some extent, this skill has long been taught in classes -- in the past it meant being able to file one article for an evening deadline; now it means filing clean, informative copy several times a day.

2. Should the schools teach students how to be pithy, write in short form and interact with readers? Ok, I'm unfailry lumping all blogs together, but you get the point. Journalists develop their own blogging style. Editors have different expectations. Teaching the "art of blogging" is futile, given that the industry standards are rapidly changing along with the technology. Assign students to practice blogging on their own time. Teach them how to write punchy leads and headlines. By all means teach editorial writing (not that all blogs are opinion-laden.) Just don't get bogged down with making blogging a part of every class assignment. Much like time management itself, it's a skill best learned on the job.

My former colleague at Inside Higher Ed wrote recently about j-schools trying to stay fresh by adding courses that emphasize reporting across media platforms. More power to them. Still, many readers posted comments below the article saying, in one way or another, "don't forget about teaching core journalism skills."

My addendum: Yes, but stress speed and accuracy.