education of journalists on icts: issues and opportunities
TRANSCRIPT
Education of Journalists on ICTs: Issues and Opportunities
Andreas Veglis – associate professor
Media Informatics Lab, Department of Journalism & MMC
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – Greece
Abstract: This article examines the issue of journalism education on Information
Communication Technologies (ICTs). More precisely it investigates the issue of teaching
ICTs and in particular of updating and extending existing knowledge and skills. The study
proposes the adoption of experiential learning for achieving such educational goal and
describes in detail the journalist’s work process. It also discusses the necessary ICT skills
that a journalist must process and presents data from surveys conducted among
journalism students and professional journalists in Greece. The article purposes the use
of Virtual Learning Environments and Learning Portfolios in order to support journalists’
training on ICTs. Finally it offers recommendations for deployment of an educational
programme that will succeed the described goals.
Keywords: journalism education, work process, ICT skills, experiential learning, virtual
learning environments, learning portfolios.
1. Introduction
In the last thirty years we have witnessed a tremendous growth in Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs). These technological developments have affected
almost all aspects of human activities. The journalism profession has been altered
considerable. The invention of the internet along with its services had a major impact on
journalism profession (Veglis, 2009). In now days the journalist is expected to have the
ability to exploit many tools and services in order to be instantly informed about breaking
news as well as current events. He must also be capable to use a variety of tools and
application in order to prepare and deliver news articles. The 24 cycle of producing news
does not exist anymore. The News are produced 24 hours per day and they are made
available at once. They are also updated continuously in order to include all the latest
developments (Veglis, 2010a). New types of journalism have emerged, namely
multimedia journalism (Bull, 2010), and data journalism (Gray, Bounergu and Chambers,
2011), which require journalists to have additional ICT skills. The evolution of the citizen
journalism has increased the competition and traditional media companies are under
pressure to deliver more and faster news (Allan and Thorsen, 2009). As a result
journalists must be able to be competitive in this very demanding media market.
The ongoing development of new tools and services related to journalistic practices is
forcing the journalists to constantly refresh and update their knowledge on ICTs. Thus
journalism education must be continuous and must be focused on learning to learn and
adapting to new tools and platforms. Based on the above the university departments of
journalism must change their approach on teaching ICTs. There is no need to teach the
use of specific tools when it is almost inevitable that by the time that the future journalists
will have to use these tools in their profession, these tools will have been replaced by new
versions with added, or altered features, or tools from other vendors with a complete new
interfaces.
The above education concept must also be adapted in the case of life-long training on
ICTs. We must not forget that there is a need for continues education of journalists that
are employed in a very demanding work process that leaves them with very limited spare
time. The ideal candidate platform for the described educational challenge is the Virtual
Learning Environment (VLE). A VLE can be described as a learning environment
mediated by computers and digital technologies (Weiss, Nolan, Hunsinger, and Trifonas.,
2006). In close conjunction with VLE, is the electronic learning portfolio that is a
collection of electronic material, which is considered to be very helpful in the journalist’s
learning process (Oliveira, and Moreira, 2010).
This article examines in detail the issue of journalism education on ICTs. It investigates
the issue of teaching ICTs and in particular of updating and extending existing knowledge
and skills. Experiential learning is examined as a learning method for achieving such an
educational goal. Also the journalist’s work process is described in detail and also the
necessary ICT skills that a journalist must possess in order to cope with his work
demands. The article purposes the use of Virtual Learning Environments and Learning
Portfolios in order to support journalists’ training on ICTs. Finally it offers
recommendations for deployment of a programme that will succeed the described goals.
The rest of the article is organized as follows: Section 2 discusses ICTs and journalism
education. Experiential learning is presented in the following section. The next section
presents journalist’s work process. Section 5 debates journalists’ necessary ICT skills.
Virtual Learning Environments and Learning Portfolios are discussed in detail in sections
6 and 7 respectively. Section 8 proposes a life-long programme for educating professional
journalists that utilize VLE and learning portfolios. Concluding remarks and future
extensions of this work are included in the final section.
2. ICTs and journalism education
Journalism has always considered to be close related with technology. Radio, television
and, in the last decade of the 20th
century, ICTs have expanded their influence and also
created new opportunities in receiving and consuming, but also in creating and
disseminating news (Chung, Kim, Trammell, and Porter, 2007). ICTs are considered the
latest challenge (but certainly not the last) which journalists have to deal with.
It is obvious that a parameter that may have a huge impact on how journalists cope with
these challenges is journalism education. Education includes mainly university education
but also life-long education.
As far as university education in concerned, first year students in the departments of
journalism are expected to possess a certain level of ICT knowledge. This is based on the
fact that ICTs are taught in elementary and secondary education and the high internet
usage rate around the world (http://www.internetworldstats.com). Media Informatics Lab
of the Department of Journalism and Mass Media Communication in Greece has been
conducted surveys concerning ICT knowledge of the first year students of the
department. More precisely the yearly surveys have collected data concerning, ownership
of personal computer (PC) and internet connection, basic computer and internet services
knowledge, and reasons for using various internet services. The surveys were conducted
with print questionnaires that were handed out during the introductory courses on ICTs.
The sample of the survey includes 345 first year students from 2003 until 2012.
The collected data indicate a growing percent of students that own a personal computer
(from 60% 9 years ago to 98% today) and have internet connection (from 40% nine years
ago to 87,8% today).
Figure 1: Percentages of ownership of personal computer and internet connection –
versus time (academic years).
It is worth noting that data indicate a 10% drop in the ownership of internet connection in
2011-12 that might by caused by the economic recession in Greece. 65% of the students
believe they have good or very good knowledge of windows operating system, 73%
claim the same for word processing applications and the percentage drops sharply to 35%
in the case of spreadsheet applications. As far as internet services are concerned 84% of
the students claim they have good or very good knowledge of the WWW, and 75,5%
believes the same for the e-mail service. These percentages are reduced to 65,3% in the
case of social networking and 45% for the blogs. The above data indicate that first-year
students in the Department of Journalism and Mass Media Communication exhibit high
percentages of computer and internet connection ownership and state that they possess
above average knowledge of word processing and basic internet services. But students
believe they lack good knowledge of spreadsheet application.
Based on the above we can conclude that first year students in the department of
Journalism and Mass Media Communication possess basic ICT knowledge that can be
extended during their study in the department. The problem is that although journalism
departments educate future journalists on ICTs, by the time they will become professional
journalists things in ICTs are expected to have changed considerably. Four years
developments of ICTs usually include dramatic changes in services and tools. Thus
certain actions must be taken in order to guarantee the continuous update of their ICT
knowledge.
It is worth noting that ICTs have changed what educators teach but also how they teach
future journalists. Today the curriculums of journalism departments include a bulk of
courses that include the use of various ICTs (Lappa and Veglis, 2005). But despite all
these changes due to the adoption of ICTs, some researchers have criticized the field as
being slow to respond to changes in the technology (Davidson, 1995). One other aspect it
is worth mentioning is the lack (in most cases) of connection between journalism
educators and professional journalists (Chung et al., 2007).
3. Experiential Learning
Journalism education today in general and especially in the field of ICTs present a
number of possibilities that include video, audio, animations, and generally all the tools
and services offered by ICTs. It is worth noting the fact that all the above possibilities of
learning do not apply only in the case of university education. All the previously
mentioned tools and services can be included in life-long education which is considered
to be vital in the continuous update of journalists’ skills on ICTs.
What is very interesting is the fact that the bulk of ICTs knowledge involves the
acquisition of skills of using various tools and services. Thus experiential learning
appears to be the best method to teach the above skills (Palilonis, 2010). Experiential
learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience (Itin, 1999). It can be
defined as the learning method where the educator has the role of the organizer and the
facilitator of exercises and projects that allow learner to practice skills in a real-world
fashion (Ricketts and Willis, 2001). Experiential activities are considered to be among the
most powerful learning tools (McCarthy and McCarthy, 2006).
Concrete Experience
Abstract Conseptualization
Reflective ObservationActive Experimentation
Figure 2: The four-step experiential learning model (ELM).
Kolb (1986) proposed the four –step experiential learning model which is exhibited in
figure 2. In the case of acquiring ICT skills the learner in the concrete experience stage,
experiences the use of a certain ICT tool. This experience forms "the basis for
observation and reflection" and thus the learner has the opportunity to consider what is
working or failing (reflective observation stage), and think about ways to improve on the
next attempt made of using the tool. Every new attempt to use the ICT tool is informed
by a cyclical pattern of previous experience, thought and reflection (active
experimentation stage) (Kolb, 1986).
Experiential learning focuses on the learning process of the individual. It can exist
without a teacher and relates solely to the meaning making process of the individual's
direct experience. Kolb claims that in order to gain genuine knowledge from an
experience, certain abilities are required (Merriam, Caffarella and Baumgartner, 2007): a)
the learner must be willing to be actively involved in the experience; b) the learner must
be able to reflect on the experience; c) the learner must possess and use analytical skills
to conceptualize the experience; and d) the learner must possess decision making and
problem solving skills in order to use the new ideas gained from the experience.
It is obvious that all the above abilities are considered to be a necessity for professional
journalists. The life-long training on ICTs is a programme in which journalists are
expected to participate on their own will. The accumulative experience on using various
ICT tools and services that already is possessed by journalists will help them
considerably in order to cover the prerequisites as stated by David Kolb (Merriam et al.,
2007).
4. Journalists’ work process
Journalists’ work process includes the acquisition of information and the production of
news articles. Obtaining news information in order to build news items can be defined as
a structured process that extends for a certain time period (Reich, 2006). The previous
described work process is consisted of two fundamental stages: news discovery and news
reporting (McManus, 1994). Reich (2006) suggested that news discovery stage is
preceded by another stage, namely news gathering in which the journalist obtains further
data from various sources and cross-checks information.
Today a journalist employs ICT tools in every stage of building news. These tools include
software applications, as well as internet tools and services that form what can be
described as the information space for journalists (Veglis and Pomportsis, 2012). If we
attempt to model the information space of the journalists we can propose four stages,
namely: Information Acquisition, Information Validation, Information Processing, and
Information Presentation and Dissemination. The above model is represented in figure 3.
Next we briefly discuss the processes that are involved in each stage.
Information acquisition
Information validation
Information processing
Presentation - dissemination
Figure 3: Modelling information space for journalists (Veglis and Pomportsis, 2012).
Information Acquisition: This stage involves the discovery of information in raw form
(Reich, 2006). As far as ICT tools and services are concerned the journalist employs
various internet services and tools, such as WWW, e-mail, search engines, RSS, social
networks, Twitter, etc. The journalist interacts with various internet sources as well as
people that are involved or can express opinions about the news subject (Veglis and
Pomportsis, 2012).
Information Validation: In this stage the journalist cross-checks his original data and
obtains further data from sources in order to enrich the available information. During this
process he also employs all the tools and services mentioned in the previous stage (Veglis
and Pomportsis, 2012).
Information Processing: In this stage the news begins to shape up to its final form. If it is
required, data visualization techniques are employed in order for data that is meaning
information to be abstracted in some schematic form, including attributes or variables for
the units of information (Veglis, 2010b). In most cases media organizations relay on
experienced web developers to produce data visualizations (De Groot, 2010). But in some
cases journalists may employ on their own, special software application to prepare the
appropriate data visualization of the news. This task can also be accomplished more
easily by using free cloud computing applications (like Google Docs) (Veglis, 2010b).
Also word-processing applications are employed in order to write the news stories (Veglis
and Pomportsis, 2012).
Information Presentation and Dissemination: In this stage a decision must be taken
concerning the publishing channels that will be used in order to present and disseminate
the news article (Veglis and Pomportsis, 2012). During the last twenty years the fast
convergence of ICTs has produced various channels that can deliver news. As
consequence there was a tendency for the larger media organizations and companies to
have several publishing channels at their disposal (Sabelström, 2001; Sabelström, 2000;
Veglis, 2007). That resulted in the rapid expansion of news output from many
broadcasters covering a wide range of media platforms (Erdal, 2007). Thus the special
characteristic of each publishing channels must be taken into account in the presentation
of the news. Of course some publishing channels, for example WWW, can incorporate
various forms of information, like text, images, sound, video, flash animation etc.
Whereas others, like RSS or Twitter, are limited to a single form of information (that is
text) (Veglis 2012).
5. Journalist's ICT skills
Based on the journalist’s work process that was discussed in the previous section we can
describe in detail the necessary ICT skills that a journalist must process in order to cope
successfully with the challenges in his everyday work.
Journalist’s today often seek information on the Web and by e-mail. Also writing news
articles, constructing diagrams via spreadsheet applications, communication via e-mail,
visualizing data with the help of various applications, publishing material on the WWW
are examples of skills that journalists need to have (Peebles, 2011). And most important
all the previous mentioned skills must be sustained and extended via adopting news tools,
services and applications as they become available.
Journalist's ICT skills can be grouped into five categories. Veglis and Pomportsis have
described the first four categories (2012). Specifically:
a) Basic skills: the journalist has the ability to work efficiently with office automation
suites (that include word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, database), and with the
basic internet services (WWW, e-mail). These skills are considered to be necessary for
every office worker. The journalist is expected to be able to perform basic functions in a
spreadsheet and have at least a general understanding of how journalists use data to find
stories. They must also be able to use relational database programs to cross-check those
data files to find various information (Peebles, 2011). As far as word processing is
concerned, basic typing and formatting skills is believed to be standard for every office
employee.
b) Web publishing skills: in this case basic knowledge of HTML is considered to be
necessary as well as the ability to work in Content Management Systems (CMSs)
(WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!, etc) More precisely the journalist must have an
understanding of the basic concepts of HTML and CSS (Cascading Styling Sheet)
(Peebles, 2011). Such knowledge can be proven extremely helpful when working with
modern CMSs. He ought to be able to work in the most popular CMSs, since the
majority of today’s media companies incorporate one of them in order to facilitate their
web presence. It is worth noting that all CMSs resemble in many characteristics and thus
if a journalist has the ability to work in one of them it can easily adapt in using another
CMS even if it is custom made for a specific media company.
c) Web 2.0 skills: these tools include blogs (accessing and owning), RSS, Wikis, social
bookmarking, social networking (Facebook, Google+, Twitter) (Franklin and van
Harmelen, 2007). The journalist must possess the skills for updating the media’s profile
on social networks, and also for interacting with the audience through various Web 2.0
tools and services, like blogs and Wikis. He must also be able to use Web 2.0 tools like
RSS, and social bookmarking, in order to stay informed about news that relate to his
work. The fast growth of social networking has made them a very important
communication path (http://www.internetworldstats.com/facebook.htm).
d) Webcasting skills: they include the ability to create and publish podcasts and
videocasts. The journalist must be able to record the audio of an interview with someone,
perform simple editing on the audio recording of that interview and upload it to the
WWW, in order for the audience to have access to the podcast (Bull, 2010; Fletcher,
2008; Peebles, 2011). Podcasts are considered to be an effective way to use audio to tell
news stories. They are easy to create and their size is small in comparison to other
multimedia files (for example video).
Videocasts on the other hand are more powerful tools to convey news. Of course they are
more difficult to create and their size is quite large. But there is always the option of
reducing their quality in order to decrease the videocast file size. Thus the journalist must
be capable to make at least a short video story even if it’s shot with a FlipCam or a
cellphone camera. He must have the skills of using entry-level non-linear video editing
software, to move scenes around, to tell the story (Fletcher, 2008; Peebles, 2011).
e) Data journalism skills: they include skills that allow journalist to present data in a
comprehensive way. Data can be in the form a spreadsheet file, but also anything that can
be described with numbers. Thus the journalist must be capable to employ programming
in order to automate the process of gathering and combining information from different
digital sources. In that way a complex story can be more easily explained for example
with the help of an infographics (Gray, Bounergu and Chambers, 2011). Infographics (or
Information graphics) are graphic visual representations of data or knowledge, which are
able to present complex information quickly and clearly. The process of creating
infographics is called data visualization, or information design, or information
architecture (Smiciklas, 2012).
The problem is that professional journalists do not, in most cases, possess the previous
described ICT skills. In 2011 Media Informatics Lab conducted a survey which
evaluated, among other things, ICT skills of professional journalists. Part of this survey
was published in early 2013 (Spyridou, Matsiola, Veglis, Kalliris, and Dimoulas, 2013).
The survey found that greek journalists employ quite extensively ICTs in their work
(26,8% of the journalists use desktop PC and laptop, 20,5% employ desktop PC, laptop
and smartphone, 16,1% only laptop and 13,4% desktop PC, laptop, and mobile phone)
and stay for considerable time period online every day. Also 30,4% of the journalists
believe that they have very good knowledge as far as PC and internet usage is concerned,
49,1% good, 17% average and only 0,9% inadequate knowledge. In the case of specific
internet services, tools and software the survey indicated that the ability to use Windows
and text writing software is substantially high. But if we move to more specialized
application the skills reported by the journalists are quite low. Basic internet services and
tools such as web navigation and email also demonstrate high familiarity levels. Also
greek journalists are pretty acquainted with social networks and blogs, but the findings
about podcasts and Twitter demonstrate great insufficiency. Overall, greek journalists
were proven to be more acquainted with internet related tools and social networks in
comparison to various types of software, yet the general impression of the results points
to significant knowledge gaps
The results of the survey indicate that greek journalists use extensively ICT tools and
they possess basic skills and to some extent web 2.0 skills. But they seem to fall behind
when it comes to more advanced, concerning sound and video editing and web and
desktop publishing (web publishing and web casting skills). It is worth noting that the
survey did not collect any data concerning the possession of data journalism skills, but if
we take into account the very limited use of infographics in the greek media we can
easily conclude that greek journalists are totally unfamiliar with such ICT skills.
6. Virtual Learning Environments
In order to cover journalists’ educational needs, Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs)
may be employed.A VLE can be defined as an education system based on the Web that
models conventional real-world education by integrating a set of equivalent virtual
concepts for tests, homework, classes, classrooms, and the like, and other external
academic resources (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_learning_environment). It
normally uses Web 2.0 tools for 2-way interaction, and is based on a CMS.
The term VLE is used by some authors in a very broad way and includes even static web
sites. Of course we must argue that VLEs are not restricted to systems that employ some
3D – virtual reality technology. A VLE may include less sophisticated interfaces than can
be based on graphics or even text (Dillenbourg, 2000). To help identify VLSs,
Dillenbourg (2000) provided seven specifics:
The information space has been designed.
Educational interactions occur in the environment, thus turning spaces into places.
The information/social space is explicitly represented. The representation may
vary from text to 3D immersive worlds.
Students are not only active, but are also considered to be actors. They are
involved in the co-construction of the virtual space.
VLEs are not restricted only to distance education. They can also enrich
classroom activities.
VLEs may integrate heterogeneous technologies and may employ multiple
pedagogical approaches.
Most virtual environments overlap with physical environments.
VLEs are considered to be basic component of distance learning (Morgan, 2003). That is
why VLEs would be ideal for journalists that want to update their ICT skills. As stated
above the core of the VLE is usually a CMS. CMSs are used primarily for online or
blended learning. They support the placement of course materials online, associating
students with courses, tracking student performance, storing student submissions and
mediating communication between the students as well as their instructor (Watson and
Watson, 2007). CMSs support a more learner centred approach as teachers cease acting
primarily as knowledge sources, and instead become facilitators of the knowledge
acquisition process by acting as guides, coaches, and motivators as students become more
active in their learning process (McCombs & Whisler, 1997). Thus the learner process
can be customized for each individual journalist which is a very important quality for the
case on journalists’ life-long education on ICTs. Journalists that will participate is such an
educational programme are expected to belong to different age groups, have diverse (if
any) education and also employed in different media companies (with dissimilar use of
ICTs).
7. Learning Portfolios
Another term close related with VLEs is electronic learning portfolio. An electronic
portfolio is usually created by the student, and contains a collection of digital objects
(called artefacts), articulating experiences, developments, achievements and learning
(Oliveira, and Moreira, 2010). It is a collection of inputted text, electronic files, images,
multimedia, blog entries, and hyperlinks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Electronic_portfolio).
Advances in communication technologies have inspired a growing number of educators
interested in the electronic learning portfolio or e-portfolio as a coupled technology and
pedagogical approach that motivates students to take the lead in building coherence
among their various learning experiences and developing innovative approaches to
manage their knowledge and guide their education (Dennis, Meyer, Sundar, Phyor,
Rogers, Chen and Pavlick, 2003).
Learning portfolios are powerful collections of artefacts that represent multiple pieces of
work, the context in which the work was completed, as well as reflections upon learning
experiences (Kovalchick and Dawson, 2003). Students who create and use a learning
portfolio have the capability to demonstrate changes in their thinking and progress over
time, such as improvements in writing. The electronic portfolio takes advantage of the
fact that many learning artefacts that are included in portfolio collections such as articles,
e-mails, and other work are mostly saved in digital form. This combined with the
pervasiveness of the Internet, allows for the creation of an online database that students
can easily access, thereby permitting the selection of artefacts from the larger collection
in order to create different views of the portfolio that can be tailored to specific audiences
(Batson, 2002). There is also a social aspect to electronic portfolios that facilitates the
sharing of experiences and reflective dialogue among students, and educators, who are
either face-to-face or at as distance (Chen and Mazow, 2002).
Journalists’ need for life-long education on ICTs can benefit significantly by the adoption
of learning portfolios. By this way journalists will have at their disposal a variety of
artefacts that will refer directly to the use of ICTs. These learning portfolios can be
greatly improved by the use of Web 2.0 tools (for example social bookmarking) in order
for the journalists to exchange links were they can have access to web material suitable
for their learning needs. Also the ability of Web 2.0 tools to allow the individual users to
create and disseminate their own content (Anderson, 2007; Bartolome, 2008) will give
extra credits to the whole educational effort. The journalists will learn to use new tools
and services and convey their knowledge to their peers by creating suitable learning
material that will carry their experience. Thus journalists’ associations are expected to
play a fundamental role in such an effort, since they have access to a significant number
of professional journalists.
8. Discussion and recommendations
The acquisition of ICT skills by professional journalists is an endeavour that can be
supported by the use of VLE in conjunction with learning portfolios. On the other hand
experiential learning is the most suitable method for gaining technical skills. The
possibilities offered by VLE and learning portfolios can facilitate experiential learning,
thus giving the journalist the necessary initial knowledge in order to start experiment with
new ICT tools or services. In this way the cycle of experiential learning can begin. The
whole learning process can take place unsupervised, thus allowing the learner to engage
in the process at his own time but also at his own pace.
It is obvious that education on new technologies is parameter that needs to be taken into
consideration in the journalism profession. Thus based on the above discussion we
conclude that in order for journalists to have life – long education and training on ICTs
certain recommendations can be made. Precisely:
A VLE that will based on a CMS (for example Moodle) that offers continues
education or/and life-long training should be deployed. The use of open source
CMS will keep deployment cost low (Veglis, 2004).
The organization of this effort must be coordinated by a federation of journalism
university departments and journalist’s associations. Thus university departments
will be responsible for the educational programme and will apply their
educational expertises. But journalist’s associations will add professional
experience to the knowledge of university department in designing an
educational programme that will cover the media market’s needs for journalists
with suitable ICT skills.
The content providers of the VLE can be journalism departments, journalist’s
associations and also individual experienced professional journalists. The
learning content is very important in the educational process. Since the students
will be professional journalists there is an increased need to offer them
educational content that will be based on real work scenarios and thus keep their
interest high during the educational programme. The programme should include
presentations from experienced journalists that have succeeded in certain areas of
their profession by employing certain strategies or techniques that are based on
ICTs (for example crowd sourcing journalism) (Singer, Hermida, Domingo,
Heinonen, Paulussen, Quandt, Reich and Vujnovic, 2011).
Journalism departments in conjunction with the journalist’s associations should
define the topics that will be included in the programme. This action will
alleviate the lack of connection between journalism educators and professional
journalists (Chung, et al., 2007).
The programme must also include an evaluation process as far as the attendees is
concerned (with a clear and precise grading system), but also of the VLE itself.
This evaluation must occur in every cycle of the programme since the
programme must adapt to the continues changing needs of the media market.
9. Conclusions
This article discuses the issue of journalism education on ICTs. ICTs play a very
important role in the journalism profession. Thus the journalist is obliged to stay up to
date as far as ICT skills are concerned in order to have a successful professional career.
This goal can be succeeded with the help of experiential learning, since the majority of
the required knowledge involves the acquisition of skills of using tools and services.
Since this effort is designed for journalists that usually have very demanding working
schedules, the logical choice is to employ some kind of distance learning platform. The
proposed candidate is VLE that can be supplemented by the use of learning portfolios.
Future extension of this work will include the actual implementation of the proposed
educational programme. It worth noting that Media Informatics Lab and Laboratory of
Electronic Media of the Department of Journalism & Mass Media Communication and
Journalists' Union of Macedonia and Thrace Daily Newspapers (http://www.esiemth.gr/)
already collaborate in order to develop a life-long educational programme for the
journalists. A survey that investigated the needs of the journalists has been contacted and
the results have indentified the topics that the programme will cover (Spyridou et al.,
2012). It is expected that the programme will be implemented in 2013.
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