Should journalists also know how to code a website?
by Vlad Jecan - January 19th, 2010
A post by Elizabeth Redman got my attention. She asks: “Will coding become the next indispensable skill [for journalists]?” Or should journalists write not only articles but software as well?
Indeed, it has become imperative for journalists to be comfortable with social networking platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and other. However, coding is not compulsory for using social networking and perhaps journalists can survive without knowing PHP. The part with “finding out information and building a platform to express it in new ways” does not require coding abilities. If it’s about the content, then a writer can set up a free blog on platforms like Blogger and Wordpress.com and publish materials in no time.