In an ideal world, I’d love more reporters, editors and producers to have (at the very least) a basic programming ability.

But on the other hand, I still have that nagging feeling that specialization is important which is why I feel it best to pair reporters with developers. Let them bounce ideas off each other.

“You can’t have a curious mind, an ability to write well and expect learn the Internet in two weeks. Look outside the journalism field.”

I agree – can’t learn it in two weeks. Can’t learn it in a month. And if you have an immediate opening and you want the best bang for your buck, then yes, don’t hire inside the newsroom. But I don’t want a manager to read this and think that you shouldn’t try to develop your own talent in house with two giant ifs: if you have it and if you can afford to do it (i.e. follow your advice and don’t fill the opening with someone learning on the fly).

I’m a reporter, been one for more than a decade, but I’ve recently moved into data-driven development. I didn’t learn it in two weeks – I’d say I’m still learning it and will be for a long time. To my developer colleagues, I’m a tourist. To my newsroom colleagues, I’m practicing dark arts. I would say my greatest asset is that I know how journalism happens and can now see ways to take the messy work of reporters and turn it into structured data for web apps.

All this is to say that there is real value in the right people with the right set of skills and the right mindset shifting away from developing stories to developing applications for news. Should those people be the ones you hire when you have an opening and a need? No. But they can become that person if you invest time and training into them. But just because they’re in the newsroom and don’t have a computer science background doesn’t mean they can’t become a valuable part of a development team.

I should have noted that there are varying degrees of “web guy.” You have to ask yourself what you want out of the Web (more video, more multimedia, a better CMS, splashy projects, etc.). Each of these things requires different skill sets. Rarely will you find someone whose expertise falls in all of those areas.

I love the idea of using free software when possible, but sometimes free or purchased software just doesn’t hack it or is too expensive. Plus, many APIs will give you much better results with free services anyway.

This post was mainly a shout out to the development team that makes me look good in the eyes of newsrooms in my company. They’re unsung heroes, really.

Obviously there are many, many advantages to hiring a coder, but I think it depends greatly on a newsroom’s structure, mindset, and resources.

That said, a loud ‘amen’ to this: “Don’t send out an email to your staff asking if anybody wants to be the Web reporter/editor/producer/guy/girl with the full intention of hiring the person most interested.