Problems of Introducing Courses in Computer-Assisted Reporting

Abstract

Joel J. Smith, investigative reporter for the Detroit News, used a computer to compare the Michigan Department of Corrections database of over one-half million convicted criminals with the state's education department database of 100,000 teachers and bus drivers. He discovered there were nearly 200 convicted felons in Michigan's classrooms and another 200 driving buses. The charges included murder and child molestation. The Department of Education admitted negligence in checking applicants' records, and the state quickly passed a statute requiring criminal checks on all teachers and drivers.(1) There is little question that Journalists with database computer skills, such as Smith, are in demand. Noting that reporters using computers for data retrieval and analysis have won Pulitzer Prizes the last six years in a row, U.S. News and World Report recently listed computer-assisted reporting (CAR) specialist for print media as one of 20 hot job tracks for the future: Journalists can improve the odds of breaking in and moving up by mastering computer-assisted reporting techniques ... Dozens of papers have trained or hired specialists in computer-assisted reporting in the last few years, and more will as the costs of equipment drop and databases become available through online services.(2) In addition to prize-winning story projects and the hiring of specialists, fundamental CAR techniques are quickly becoming part of the standard repertoire in many of the nation's newspapers. Two-thirds of the 208 newspapers responding to a spring 1994 survey of dailies computers in some manner for some type of reporting.(3) Referring to the rapid development of computer-assisted reporting in news-rooms, Jim Brown, director of the National Institute for Advanced Reporting, said, Those in the job market now who don't know how to use a spreadsheet or a database are really at a competitive disadvantage ...(4) Computer-assisted reporting, or CAR, includes the use of computers by reporters for gathering and processing information in every phase of news story development: obtaining story ideas from computer data-bases, online services, networks and bulletin boards; collecting and analyzing information from government and private databases; verifying information received from human sources via online services and databases; and creating databases at the newspaper to statistically analyze information for stories and graphics.(5) Despite advances in computer-assisted reporting being made by America's news gatherers, most university journalism programs have yet to introduce their first CAR course. J.T. Johnson, professor of journalism at San Francisco State University, believes this disparity is a noteworthy problem: It appears a large majority of journalism students--indeed, the great mass of all students in most universities--are not being adequately prepared to cope with the information-retrieval and analysis environment that is used daily by government and business, and a steadily increasing number of print and broadcast companies. Our students, therefore, are being defrauded, bilked out of the skills vital to their intellectual and professional due.(6) This article addresses questions associated with the introduction of CAR courses at universities. It first briefly outlines the use of computers in newsrooms, and then details the authors' Delphi study of CAR's future in journalism programs. Computer journalism The use of computers by jouralists is not new. Ward, Hansen, and McLeod identify the introduction of video display terminals (VDTs) and electronic pagination software as major technological changes in the newspaper industry beginning over two decades ago. The adoption of VDT technology changed writing, editing and production processes, while the electronic pagination systems transferred much of the back-shop production work to the Jouralists' desks.(7) In addition to editing and pagination functions, newspapers are now regularly utilizing their to access online databases, search computerized public records, and scrutinize government documents. …