Paul Bradshaw: "The need for an NCTJ ‘badge’ seems to be something of a self-perpetuating myth: regional press editors continue to say that they require it, despite evidence that half of the new journalists they take on don’t have NCTJ training. "

Amy Gahran: "The most effective, lasting way to adapt your online-media mindset, habits, and priorities is to actually use these skills — not just know about them in a theoretical sense…"

"Again, for those at the back: if you think you want to be a journalist, I now don’t think there’s any excuse not to have a blog. The closer you get to looking around for jobs, the better it should be maintained."

"We tell the postgrads on the PMA magazine course that their blog is read by the industry, but they never quite believe us. How handy, then, that Press Gazette’s Axegrinder should pick up on Tori Hunt’s blog account of a talk given to the students by an N

"journalism education is lagging behind industry in embracing the new media technologies that students will need to be competitive in the work place, according to a paper presented Friday."

Phil Meyer … the Knight Chair at the University of North Carolina … will retire next year. The professorship will be expanded to embrace digital change and economic models for 21st century journalism.

Paul Bradshaw nominates 12 must-read blog posts aboout online journalism.

"Yes, you should study up on audio, video and, if you’re so inclined, a bit of code, while you’re at it. But please don’t think those skills replace more traditional knowledge."

Figures released under FOI show that "an elite group of independent schools" are "sending more pupils to a narrowing range of “ivy league” universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Bristol."

Chris Dillow on why Gordon Brown and David Miliband are portrayed as wonks, geeks or swots: "One possibility is simply that anyone of above-average intellect will look like a freakish genius next to the average journalist." Ouch.

Danah Boyd argues that social networks are becoming class-divided: high-social-status American teens are all on or switching to Facebook while marginalized, low-SES, "non-hegemonic", teens continue to be drawn to MySpace.

"Many go to journalism school because they like to write. They don’t think of themselves as techie-types and certainly not as math-types. But these two skills - understanding of technology and comfort with math and statistics - are ever more important for

Jeff Jarvis on TVNewser Brian Stelter’s job at the New York TImes: "Pay attention, journalism students: When I suggest that you blog, this is what I’m talking about."