Why journalism schools should teach tech reporting

Tech journalist David Cohn writes for The Poynter Institute about why journalism schools should have technology reporting classes.

Cohn writes, “Technology isn’t something students should learn because ‘it’s the future.’ Students can learn about technology because it will be their beat and they want to be good reporters. When students aren’t even paying attention, they’ll begin to understand the power of technology, the richness of the industry and the culture of the community.

“For the traditionalists: Have no fear, it’s still reporting! A tech reporting class isn’t about gadgets and gizmos and ‘whosits and whatsits galore.’ It’s about reporting and writing. Unlike most ‘teaching hospital’ classes, the topic is around an industry rather than a geography. But it’s an exciting industry that has giants like Google/Facebook as well as new upstarts run by people not much older than your students.

“Tech reporting requires desk reporting, but it is done best with old-fashioned boots on the ground, making sources, calling, following up, etc. You want students to learn how to report and write. They can do that while on the tech beat.

“For the small J-school: You probably want to bring entrepreneurship and technology into your curriculum but maybe you haven’t been able to attract the high-profile journo-preneurs-coders. Maybe the multimillion-dollar foundation grant to fund the new innovation building is out of reach. Starting a technology beat class isn’t.”

Read more here.