Martin Stabe » HTML

currybetdotnet: HTML5 for journalists

Martin Stabe — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:41:06 +0000

HTML is changing significantly for the first time in the best part of a decade, and you'll need to learn to at least recognise, if not use, some new tags. ... Several new HTML5 tags are there to enhance the way that content is understood by machines, or is rendered by browsers and devices. All of which will ultimately result in a better user experience for humans." Continue reading →

Journalistopia: New Tableizer! Tool Turns Spreadsheets into HTML Charts

Martin Stabe — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:31:47 +0000

"Web producers here in our newsroom often have to throw up quick charts of data online, but hand-editing a table from a spreadsheet or exporting it from Office or Dreamweaver can be a time-consuming endeavor. Well, now you have Tableize!, a time-saving tool that lets you copy/paste spreadsheet cells, click a button and –voila!– instant HTML tables you can quickly put online." Continue reading →

Dave Lee: Sky News on HTML

Martin Stabe — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:53:06 +0000

Dave Lee quotes the Sky News Online induction pack: “Your stories appear on the web thanks to HTML, the computer language. Fortunately you need to know very little about how it works.” Continue reading →

Skillset of the journalist of the future

Martin Stabe — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 11:19:24 +0000

The Chicago Tribune’s interactive division is hoping to hire a journalist specialising in interactive database production of the sort Adrian Holovaty has been advocating.

The requirements for the job are pretty demanding:

2-5 years’ experience with databases, preferably in a newsroom
Bachelor’s degree in journalism, English or related discipline
Computer-assisted reporting background or similar
Demonstrated knowledge of statistics, statistical analysis, etc.
Strong oral and written communication skills
Experience in database content entry and management
Broad experience with data sources, data mining and database
concepting
Familiarity with database interfaces and web presentation layers
Basic knowledge of HTML and Flash required; advanced skills
desirable

A journalism or English graduate with quantitative and technical skills to go with a deep understanding of how the web works. There aren’t many people with that skillset.

What’s worse, I can’t imagine how anyone would obtain those skills through conventional journalism education.

I can’t think of any journalism course in Britain that prepares students for a career path that might eventually involve applying for a job like this — although I’d love to be corrected if I’m wrong.

Update 9/3: There has been a lot of activity on this topic since I posted this. Adrian Holovaty is hiring at WashingtonPost.com, while Matt Waite counsels newspapers stop looking for the next Holovaty and to concentrate on finding these skills among existing staff. Meanwhile, Mark Glaser of MediaShift has a great report on what various other US newspapers are doing in this area.