We can never stop learning

The days of journalists learning only on the job are over. Media companies are taking continuous development seriously

There was a point, very early in my career, when it felt that the steps you needed to take to qualify as a journalist were endless. Having studied and achieved GCSEs, A-levels and a BA Hons degree – and after a two-year break to experience the working world – I decided I wanted to be a journalist.

There followed an intensive nine-month bout of training at Cardiff University’s journalism school, leading to a postgraduate diploma and a preliminary qualification from the National Council for the Training of Journalists, including a hard-earned 100wpm shorthand certificate. Then, after securing employment at a local newspaper, I learned “on the job” and sat more exams to gain a senior qualification, finally earning my stripes as a fully qualified reporter (on the second attempt, mortifyingly) in 2004.

I’m not complaining – this thorough training laid the foundations for my career – but with my senior certificate in hand, it’s fair to say I’d had quite enough of learning and training of any kind and nor was it on offer. Perhaps that was enough 20 years ago? In many ways, the role of a newspaper reporter was straightforward back in the day – nurturing contacts, spending the day “on patch”, writing sparkling copy, competing with colleagues for the coveted splash. The work was all-consuming and squarely focused on a print publication governed by deadlines, newspaper sales and advertising revenue.

If you wanted to progress, as I did, you learned from those around you and you could climb a steady ladder from junior to senior to chief reporter; to deputy news editor and news editor; and to deputy editor to editor to editorial director. Sitting in a training room to learn the skills needed to develop your career was almost unnecessary and outweighed by “learning by osmosis”.

But that was two decades ago – and the industry, and indeed the world, has changed, largely driven by technology and the economy and, in recent years, the Covid-19 pandemic. The digital revolution was the primary disruptor to traditional media business models and was the catalyst for widespread change as readers and commercial customers gradually switched allegiance to shiny new digital platforms.

The rise of social media added a new layer of complexity, consuming audiences at rapid-fire pace and competing with traditional media outlets to serve the news first and fast. As the media have responded, changed business models and adopted new strategies to maintain relevance in the eyes of its print and digital audiences, so the role of the journalist evolved.

Reporters must now be multi-skilled – well-versed in media law and the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) while understanding search engine optimisation (SEO) and analytics, and keeping up with social media and the current impacts of artificial intelligence (AI). Advances in technology also affect operations with system changes and new content management systems (CMS) that demand more from journalists and require intensive training. The demise of Quark, I recall, caused unprecedented upset and angst among sub-editors who were forced to switch to InDesign.

In the end, many sub-editors were casualties of the industry-wide digital transformation, particularly in the regional press, as newsroom structures began to change. New roles were created to integrate essential digital expertise into the newsroom, including social media, SEO, video, podcasting and data specialists to deliver on digital content strategies to achieve engaged audience growth. And while many of the new wave of journalists – digital natives who have grown up with the technology – have thrived in this new way of working, it has been a challenging adjustment to others, particularly those with more experience and a career that began in a print-centric world.

Not that this is entirely a generational divide – during my 10 years as a senior editor, often the most vocal opposition came from journalists in trainee reporter or junior editor roles. Paradoxically, these individuals favoured social media and websites as their primary source of news and would never read a newspaper, yet were completely consumed by their journalism being seen in the printed newspaper only.

Training and development have been essential tools to support employers as they navigated digital progression and economic challenges (the 2008 financial crash posing particular problems) while remaining competitive in the face of new disruptive threats. And while training activity has been focused on upskilling new and existing staff with digital expertise, there has been recent anecdotal evidence of a shortfall in core skills, including basic writing and interviewing.

Indeed, in the education sector, leaders and tutors of NCTJ-accredited courses have observed that increasing numbers of student journalists are avoiding phone interviews and favouring email communication, while the notion of doing a vox pop is greeted with fear and trepidation.

The education sector and wider industry are also grappling with complexities surrounding mental health and wellbeing. This has become a prominent issue for newsroom leaders, seemingly worsening during the pandemic and the fast-tracking of working from home (WFH) and hybrid working patterns, which left many journalists working from their spare room or kitchen table, provoking feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Leadership training is vital to develop softer skills

The new way of working has also initiated a cultural shift, with editorial leaders struggling to manage disparate teams in the day-to-day operation and nurture collaboration and positive working relationships, while providing continuous development for individuals without the power of “learning by osmosis”.

In light of these challenges, leadership training is more important than ever, not only to motivate teams but to develop softer skills, including understanding emotional intelligence, diversity issues, and mental health and wellbeing. Further to this is another important topic for the industry: journalists’ safety and resilience at a time when social media abuse is a reality for many journalists, affecting their mental health and enjoyment of the job and, at its worst, leading talented individuals to leave the industry entirely.

Suddenly, then, the training needs of the industry are vast and complicated – and senior industry leaders are more aware of this than ever, with learning and development almost certainly on the agenda for most media organisations. Last year, Reuters’ Changing Newsrooms reported that 69 per cent of survey respondents indicated their employers offered skills training, suggesting there is room for improvement.

Elsewhere, in other industry sectors, the focus on continuous professional development (CPD) has grown substantially and there are many studies and research projects that support the organisational benefits. Crucially, it has been proven to increase employee engagement – offsetting retention issues and low morale – and to improve quality standards and productivity among a company’s workforce.

Forbes reported in April 2022 that 76 per cent of employees are more likely to stay with a company that offers continuous training, while 55 per cent said they needed additional training to perform better in their roles. Meanwhile, there is a growing expectation for employers to provide opportunities for personal development, reflecting the needs of Gen-Z and millennial age groups. HR Review reported last year that two-thirds of 16-34-year-olds claimed training and development improved commitment to their employer and boosted job satisfaction for three-quarters of young workers.

The NCTJ leads research about training in the UK media sector and reported in Journalists at Work in 2018 that “55 per cent of journalists had taken part in a learning activity related to their work”. This number is likely to have changed considerably as much has happened in five years and the NCTJ consults and collaborates with industry to understand the training needs of different organisations across the sector.

We know that organisations offer some form of continuous development for their journalists now more than ever – using internal and external resources – and this ranges from ongoing digital training, onboarding and induction provision, leadership training, and coaching and mentoring. The NCTJ is currently preparing the next Journalists at Work study which will provide fresh data and insight to create a clearer picture of how learning and development is being embedded in the media.

Speaking to senior leaders across the industry, it is clear that training and development are not only considered important, but essential for all journalists, whether in or out of employment or at whatever stage of their career. Cait FitzSimons, editor of 5 News, says she has noticed employees are demanding career development more than ever. “Over the past 20 years, the media industry has transformed and at the centre of that has been a higher expectation around the skill set each journalist has. All of us need to be open to new ways of working and be ready to learn.

“Younger journalists are increasingly vocal about their career development. Managers need have sophisticated interpersonal skills, as well as understanding complex technology as it develops. So that makes it important to have access to relevant and authoritative training.”

Martin Wright, editor-in-chief at the Express and Star in Wolverhampton, says ongoing training has a “critical role” to play to support journalists and also editorial managers as the industry continues to evolve, pointing to artificial intelligence as the next significant trigger for newsroom change.

“We need the right training in place to develop leaders of the future who have the skills to continue the transformation of our businesses beyond their print heritage. This is an area that has too often been neglected in recent times, but is vital for the long-term sustainability of local journalism. As the world becomes ever more complex – AI, anyone? – having the right skills to react, adapt and continue to produce the unique, original content that our readers demand will be more important than ever.”

Professional development for editorial employees has been central to the organisational culture at the Financial Times. Director of editorial talent Scheherazade Daneshkhu, who has worked for the FT for 30 years, says: “Training has always been part of the FT – whether writing or interviewing or other basic skills – but the big push for learning and development was to shift people’s mindsets from print publishing to embracing digital. This was the biggest change we had seen and took several years to embed in the newsroom.

New skills can give reporters that edge

“Now we have many different training opportunities and one of our most successful approaches is to use existing staff with particular expertise to share their experiences with others so that they learn the best way to carry out an investigation or how best to interview someone. Other important areas for us are data and statistical training. We have also highlighted risks posed by technology, such as deepfakes, and currently we are looking at how we teach about responsible potential use of generative AI.

“The FT is very people-orientated – this is embedded at the top of the organisation – and professional development forms a big part of this.”

Outside the bigger organisations, news agencies are also getting in on the act. Laura Elvin, news editor of the south west news agency SWNS, who recently completed her own leadership training, believes professional development is critical to demonstrating investment in people and retaining talent, instead of the agency being seen as a stepping stone to a bigger job.

She says: “Traditionally, news agencies were seen as a place to pack in a huge amount of on-the-job training before moving on to London – and they still can be – but we’re proud to say that now more than ever, team members are choosing to grow their careers at SWNS. Equipping junior staff, who will be the newsroom leaders of our future, with the skills and confidence they need to succeed is vitally important to our success.”

There is also a huge community of freelance journalists, which has grown significantly in recent years, with the 2021 Labour Force Study (commissioned by the Office for National Statistics) suggesting that 35 per cent of journalists are self-employed, which is about 35,500 journalists. It is important that freelancers also have the opportunity to develop. Natasha Hirst, freelance journalist and president of the National Union of Journalists, said: “There is always a need to develop new skills and tools to give us an edge in securing and delivering work. [It] also provides opportunities to network, share and develop ideas and learn from the experience of other journalists. Through attending training courses, I’ve even found people to collaborate with on projects.

“Employers who commission freelances on regular shifts could consider opening up training opportunities to freelances as well as staff. Across our industry we need to build a culture that values and makes time for training and professional development.”

The point about industry culture is important – the entire profession has a role to ensure that training and development stays on the agenda so that, frankly, there is a sustainable future ahead for journalism. And while much of the responsibility lies with employers, individual journalists also have a part to play. They should – as younger journalists appear to be doing – set an expectation for development and should proactively seek it out. Editorial management plays an important part, not least early-career or mid-level managers who are balancing the demands of a busy day-to-day newsroom while managing teams of people, sometimes without the experience and skills to do so. Hence the need for effective leadership training.

Back in 2004, I might have been relieved to believe that my learning and development journey had run its course but, in fact, it was only beginning. I arrived just as the digital revolution began, which meant hours and hours of digital publishing and systems training. Then I decided I wanted to manage, which led to multiple leadership training sessions, culminating with a part-time executive MBA.

I worked for three big publishers over 20 years, all of which offered a range of training that provided me with the personal development that I eventually craved. I am hugely grateful for the training I have received as it has enriched my career, bringing me new knowledge, skills and perspective. It has made me a better journalist, leader and, probably, a better person and I’m almost certain it contributed towards achieving wider business goals and success during my time in many different roles across 20 years. I also sought out training opportunities – gatecrashing a news editor training course when I wasn’t a news editor; putting my hand up for the MBA; offering to be trained and lead the implementation of one of many content management systems.

Now I am at the NCTJ, having the chance through our Journalism Skills Academy (JSA) to support journalists throughout their careers, offering professional development training to give journalists the skills and confidence to achieve their ambitions. The training includes virtual “masterclasses”, bite-sized “lunch and learns” and in-person group sessions. There is also an e-learning platform for people to develop further skills in their own time and at their own pace.

Topics include media law, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), digital skills such as social media, podcasting, search engine optimisation and analytics and video; as well as more specialist skills such as investigative journalism, data journalism and feature writing. The JSA recently launched a leadership training programme for editorial managers. Other training focuses on industry topics including safety and resilience for journalists, reporting on climate change and reporting on the royal family.

By working together we can ensure that a culture of professional development is embedded in industry values. That way, journalists and journalism can thrive in the face of constant change.