LAYOFFS.COM

February 2001
		If the recent happenings in the Internet news industry are any indication, now might not be the time to seek out that online reporting job of your dreams. What's behind the recent spate of online news layoffs? Three experts take your questions.

Forum introduction Will tech jobs be affected by the economic downturn? Will news sites build back up to their pre-layoff size? What should one do to become a Web journalist? Are there still Web jobs to be had? Is the building stage over at news sites?     Online Special Layoffs.com Online Special Media Watch Jan. 8, 2001 The New York Times lays off 17 percent of its Internet division. Dec. 21, 2000 Salon.com lays off 20 percent of its staff. Oct. 12, 2000 Layoffs at the Tribune Company Sept. 19, 2000 Pseudo.com goes under. Browse the NewsHour's coverage of the media     AdAge.com Salon.com Wall Street Journal.com

Adrian Holovaty of Columbia, Missouri asks: I'm a journalism student at the University of Missouri. What types of classes should I be taking to be a well-rounded and marketable online journalist?   Neil Budde responds: We still believe that a good journalist can be a good online journalist. Today, we look for the same editing skills we'd look for in an editor for a print newspaper, including good headline and summary writing and the ability to ensure that an article accurately and concisely conveys the needed information. Just as newspapers had to become more visually oriented a few decades ago, making it important that journalists understood how to use photography and graphics to help tell a story, the Internet is adding some requirements to understand how to use video, audio and forms of interactivity to convey information or engage the reader. But all of these are based in the fundamentals of journalism. I'm not a big proponent of teaching HTML or more technical skills to journalists. Understanding what technology can do to help you as a journalist in telling a story is vital. Being able to actually create the code is not.   Hoag Levins responds: First, concentrate on understanding the traditions of American journalism. They are the underpinning of all that you will do online and it has never been more important for young journalists to be grounded in the basics. Then, study enough about online publishing enough to understand and be able to operate comfortably in a digital environment. And then, most importantly, focus on a subject specialty area. This could be anything that interests you, from medical issues to paleontology. General journalists are a dime a dozen. Journalists who are also authorities in a field of wide interest to the public are prized assets in traditional as well as online newsrooms everywhere.   David Talbot responds: The Web probably demands less specialization and more versatility from journalists -- even if you're a writer, say, it helps to know how to record the audio for an interview. That said, though, it's still more important to build and develop your basic journalistic skills -- reporting, researching, writing, shaping stories -- than to worry about boning up on the details of different technologies. The technology is always changing. It's easy to take people who understand what a great story is and teach them how to tweak their skills for presenting stories on the Web; it's much harder to take people who know HTML and give them the fundamentals of journalism training.