In a March 7, 2007 article on the PBS MediaShift website, freelance journalist Mark Glaser writes about the growing trend of news organizations employing computer programmers to add depth to the content on their websites. Glaser focuses on journalist/programmer Adrian Holovaty, whose ChicagoCrime.org site propelled him into a position at the Washington Post, and Aaron Ritchey, the Tacoma News Tribune's "news programmer" who since last summer has introduced several online innovations at the Tribune.

Glaser explores the salary and cultural hurdles that have kept programmers from making a bigger splash in newsrooms despite their obvious need, and points out the failure of journalism school curriculums to cultivate the interest and skills among aspiring journalists necessary to make them more adept at even low-level programming.

Glaser also tackles the subject of whether print and web operations should be combined or kept separate, and discusses the potential for using existing CAR (computer-assisted reporting) specialists in newsrooms in ways that make data more interactive on websites.

This is a very insightful article at a time when newsrooms CCJ has visited recently are thinking deeply about how to make their web offerings more innovative and helpful to users.

Click here for Glaser's article in its entirety on the PBS MediaShift website.