"A cadre of newly minted media whiz kids, who mix high-tech savvy with hard-nosed reporting skills, are taking a closer look at ways in which 21st century code-crunching and old-fashioned reporting can not only coexist but also thrive. And the first batch of them has just emerged from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism."

"About 21 months ago [Ryan Mark and Brian Boyer] heard about a new scholarship program offering computer programmers a chance to earn a master's degree in journalism at the Medill School. Neither of them had journalism experience, and neither of them had ever considered studying journalism. But they decided to apply anyway, and as of December they became the first 'programmer-journalists' (or 'hacker journalists') to graduate from Medill."