Many newspapers and televisions rely on one byte head to do the operation's computer work. For CAR to survive and flourish, however, the knowledge must be shared and taught to others. The following handout offers some tips of how to train staffers.
Before you start
1) Master CAR yourself. You can't train others if you don't know how to do it. Make sure you feel comfortable with the programs. 2) Produce one good story using what you learned the first week. It needn't be a big project; it just needs to be something that proves the value of computer-assisted reporting. 3) Find a compatriot in the newsroom to work with you - possibly someone who attended a conference with you. Two people can accomplish much more than one, and if one of you is an editor he or she is in a better position to convince your newspaper's top editor what is needed in the way of resources and additional training. 4) Create a Buddy system. Initially, it might just be the two or three or four of you. But once you start getting converts, team them up with someone who has more expertise. 5) Don't worry about trying to get everyone in the newsroom involved. Many of them never will. Other folks will want a piece of the action when they see what you can do. 6) A word of warning - it will be slow going for a while. Be patient, focus on your own work and that of your buddy. Watch for new converts, show them how it's done and build from there.
Training others
First, look for resources in your building. You can't do it all alone and you might find help in places you never thought of.
In-house training:
1) The Human Resource Director. They don't know CAR, but they do know training. Talk to him or her about how to set up a training program or class. He or she may even be able to do a lot of the legwork for you.
2) Look for other in-house resources. They may be where you least expect to find them:
a) One newspaper columnist who writes about online services, teaches staffers how to access the Internet, Compuserve, etc. b) Someone from the marketing department may know a lot about what data means since that department has to make sense of marketing data. c) Systems editors - if you have one - can provide training in PCs and sometimes spreadsheet and database programs. If you don't have a systems editor, a systems technician can sometimes help - particularly with basic computer training. Just make sure he or she speaks English and not "technobabble." d) The newsroom librarian. If you are fortunate to have a good librarian, enlist his or her help in finding data sources and in teaching a session on what's available and how to get it. 3) Set up a regular training schedule. Focus on those reporters and editors who have shown an interest in what you are doing and make the schedule realistic say once every two weeks in the beginning. 4) Keep it small. Forget the 2 1/2-day seminars, in the beginning. Announce a brown-bag lunch. Post the topic in the in-house newsletter or on the front-end system. Don't worry if the turnout for the first few sessions is small. If you get only one or two people, you have potential converts and ambassadors. 5) Focus on story ideas - particularly those from the reporters' beats - and talk about how a spreadsheet or database program can enhance those stories. 6) Start with the basics. Participants will have a difficult time learning Paradox for Windows if they've never used Windows or a mouse. Encourage them to play Solitaire to enhance their mouse skills. 7) Divide up the expertise. Rather than forcing trainees to learn several different programs, have one person become the database expert, another the spreadsheet expert, and so on. When a story or project needs to be done, the experts can team up to take advantage of their expertise. 8) Dump a city budget or other data from one of those beats into a PC and show the other staffers what can be done with the information. (Avoid using the examples that come with the program's tutorials; they aren't relevant to reporting.)
9) Remember to start with the story idea, not the computer. (Yes, I said that before, but it bears repeating.) Reporters and editors have to see the relevance of what you're doing. Budgets, by the way, are an excellent way to start. Almost every beat reporter has to deal with them at one time or another. 10) Assign "homework" to make sure participants use the skills they have learned. Give the participants a list of questions that can be answered only if they use the program. (What was the percentage increase in the police department's budget over the previous year, for example, if you used a city budget in the spreadsheet class.) Let them use any resource they like (manuals, etc.) to figure out the answer except asking a fellow staffer for the answer.
Regional training
1) Solicit participation from neighboring (non-competitive) newspapers and pool the expenses to bring in a trainer for a group session. You may be able to get an expert from another newspaper simply by paying his or her expenses. CAR reporters and editors are always willing to share their expertise and spread the gospel. 2) APME and state AP bureaus conduct regional CAR training utilizing AP and NICAR trainers. These have been held in several cities in the past year. The per-person cost is minimal (often less than $50). Contact your state AP bureau to inquire about a session in your area. It helps if you've already solicited interest from other newspapers in your state or region.
Local colleges
Check out local colleges and universities for computer training - classes in Lotus or Paradox or computer basics if they don't offer anything specially in computer-assisted reporting. You might even find someone with CAR experience. The Free Press in Burlington, Vt., for example, found a former reporter-turned-student instructor who used to be president of IRE.
(A word of caution: Be careful of training by non-journalists - such as at local business schools or training institutes.
The trainer may know Lotus, but tracking widget profits is hardly applicable to newspapers. If you do use an outside source, see if you can talk to the instructor before hand about what you do, bring a sample - such as the city budget.)
Training tools
1) Don't worry if your only available PC is a 386 with not much memory and an old version of Lotus. It can handle the small projects you'll want to start with. And once you produce some stories, it will be easier to convince your editor that a faster machine and more up-to-date software are warranted. 2) By all means steal and copy everything you received - except the licensed software, of course. Don't duplicate everything in the beginning though; it will be too overwhelming. It's better to copy only the handouts that are pertinent to your particular training session. 3) Manuals/Cheat sheets: Put the handouts, cheat sheets and other documents in a loose-leaf binder for participants. That way, they'll have the beginning of a CAR manual to which they can add later. Include lists of information/databases available local and at the state and federal level, how to access DMV on-line, etc. If possible, keep the handout files in a computer so that you can update them easily. (Long lists kept in the CAR computer also make searching for data easier.) Encourage users to add to the lists as they discover new sources of information. 4) Form a public records committee and have the members find out what local and state public records are available in computer-format. Keep others informed as to what's available; start a database of databases. (The librarian should be on the committee.) 5) Create a data center - even if it's a single PC and a bookshelf in a corner of the newsroom. Keep manuals and public record information. Create a catalog listing what's in the center. Don't segregate it in a locked room that doesn't invite people to use it.
This is an excerpt from the CAR Rock National Conference. To get a copy of the full handout, call the IRE Resource Center at (573) 882-3364.
One great way to find story ideas is by reading IRE's "100 Computer-Assisted Stories," which includes ideas for both features and hard-hitting investigations. To order, call (573) 882-0684.