Why Are Latin American Journalists Learning to Code, and Why Should We Do the Same?
Learning how to write computer code is an intimidating skill set that one might not normally associate with journalism, but several journalists in Central and South America are doing just that. Learning Java, Python, HTML or R can contribute to a journalist’s online presence by helping to boost their findability and maintain their content and websites.
Spanish journalist Lydia Aguirre wrote a blog post in 2015 to underscore the importance of learning code:
"Thinking in code is nothing more than understanding how the platforms we use every day to publish and distribute the content you generate work, so that you can get the most out of them. Knowing some basic principles so you can dialogue more effectively with the technical team (developers, designers, SEO experts, audience analysts...). To think like machines, knowing the structures, formats and processes of your news outlet’s content manager will allow you to save precious time and save time for your colleagues in the tech team."
Journalists are ever becoming more and more reliant on an internet presence in order to get their work out there and to amplify their connection to their community. Over 360 newsrooms in the United States alone have closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing out some knowledge about what exactly a developer does so that journalists can better understand how their content gets represented online can go a long way for a journalist’s exposure.
Journalists are ever becoming more and more reliant on an internet presence in order to get their work out there and to amplify their connection to their community. Over 360 newsrooms in the United States alone have closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing out some knowledge about what exactly a developer does so that journalists can better understand how their content gets represented online can go a long way for a journalist’s exposure.
But is programming vital? Some journalists believe that it is not, though they do feel it’s useful. London-based freelance journalist Daniel Cappa said that the range of programming “from scraping (a technique for extracting information from websites) to web development, statistical analysis, data visualization and front-end development…may give you new job opportunities as a data analyst or developer, but those positions are not necessarily journalism. Journalism is still about reporting, cross-checking sources, context, etc." But as newspapers grow more and more digital and people continue to get their news from front pages online, is it viable to ignore programming any longer?
Flavio Vargas, a Colombian journalist interviewed by the LatAm Journalism Review, said that "It’d be good to have some degree of digital literacy, including the basics about what a developer does in relation to journalistic work," in order to get your mind around how to better promote your own work outside of any contractual writing.
"Our profession forces us to be on the ball of social, political and cultural events, and that includes technologies that we can incorporate little by little,” said Puerto Rican journalist Laura Moscoso.
She adds:
“Moreover, we live in a world where form is now also content. So we must not ignore anything that allows us to tell stories better or analyze more sharply. All this, of course, without forgetting the core of journalism: ethics, empathy, and social responsibility in the handling and distribution of information.”
But all agree—learning how programming works is more important than learning any specific type of programming language. Being able to look in code for obvious mistakes or else to change a website’s search engine optimization (SEO) can really give a journalist’s engagement the boost it needs to be seen by the correct audiences. Distribution is a key part in the transfer of information—and if freelance journalists can take control of that where they can, they may see their work have a greater impact.
