Thank you Matthew and Elizabeth for your thoughts.
Training journalists is a tough road - I understand that. And because newspapers (and small TV stations) are LOSING revenue from advertising to the internet, getting them to put money up for this is going to be a challenge. I think there is a possibility that we could get seed money from a newspaper of broadcasting foundation to help develop the program.
And I think the instructors need to be people who are doing this now. We could videotape them doing their work routine so you could see how the workflow happens. And have a better idea of how to incorporate these skills into your (small and medium newspapers and TV) routines and your websites.
But I still think there needs to be some element of on site training. At least for me, it helps to be sitting in the room with the people who are so enthusiastic on a topic. Not just learning from watching on a computer screen. (Maybe that's just me?)
I am actually pitching this already to some foundations to let me do an internship this fall and try and develop something like this. I JUST got a HD digital camcorder and heading out to do my first shoot as a backpack journalist this coming weekend. So that would solve some of the problems like - who will shoot the tape and edit it. I can do those two things.
I realize it needs some focus but I think these news groups need help to bring websites up to par when it comes to interacting with customers. I am not as familiar with how to make websites interactive. So that's where I would need to team up with someone or a news organization that is already doing this - so I can videotape them about how they do it and get them to show me some of the skills involved.
There may be a better way to bring this idea into reality. But I think it's safe to say the need is truly there.
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