Courses in online journalism focused on news writing and reporting can be considered among the most effective vehicles for introducing students to media convergence and journalism 2.0, write Ainara Larrondo Ureta, Simón Peña Fernández, both of University of the Basque Country.

This study explores a pedagogical model used in a course offered by Faculty of Social Sciences and Communication at the University of the Basque Country. The course addresses web-related skills from the perspective of news writing and reporting. The authors analysed the objectives and tools used by teachers in the classroom, as well as the students’ experience.

The results show that while students do not seem to need training in order to handle the technical aspects of social media journalism, they do need guidance and instruction regarding social media’s potential as a reporting tool. Thus, it is crucial to motivate journalism students to make professional use of online media at an early point in their journalism training. Simulating professional routines and environments is also important.

The article “Keeping pace with journalism training in the age of social media and convergence: How worthwhile is it to teach online skills?” was published by Journalism and it is available here (abstract public).

Picture: 5057695336_938bc82683_o by aiesecgermany, licence: CC BY-ND 2.0