Training for Reporters

I was in Tampa, Florida this past weekend and met a woman from Minnesota who was there training for a job with Nielsen Media Research, the company famous for providing Nielsen Ratings to TV and cable networks and ad agencies.

The woman talked about the company flying her to Tampa for three weeks, paying for her transportation, accommodations, basically everything except for alcohol, so she could learn how to sign up families who might be interested in participating in the ratings and how to maintain relationships with those families.

As she went on and on about how great her past three weeks have been, envy set in and I started thinking about my own job, wondering what three weeks of training would do for me as a reporter?

According to the Council of National Journalism Organizations website, a 2002 survey by Princeton Survey Research Associates, found the main source of job dissatisfaction for U.S. journalists is, you guessed it, lack of training. I couldn't agree more and believe it or not it even tops the complaint I have with my salary resembling that of a starving artist.

The survey, which interviewed 1,964 news executives and staffers, found "more than two-thirds receive no regular skills training; news companies overall have not increased their training budgets in the past decade; and news executives say time and insufficient budgets are the main reasons they do not provide more training opportunities," according to the CNJO website.

While the CNJO website lists organizations offering resources journalists can utilize to enhance their skills and a google search also pulls up training programs for journalists, most of these programs cost mucho dinero to attend, especially for the cub reporter who is just barely making enough to pay the rent. On a more positive note, the conferences are cheaper than going to grad school.

Here is a list of organizations listed on the CNJO website and others I found through google. Who knows, you may be able to convince your news organization to pay the cost. If anyone has attended a conference that was helpful or not, post a comment or send me an email.

1. Journalismtraining.org

2. Tomorrow's Workforce