The 2017 News Nerd
Survey
We surveyed 756 people at the intersection of journalism and technology to understand who they are, how they learn and support one another, and where they go next.
The “news nerd community” of developers, designers, editors, data analysts, and product folks who work in tech and journalism has built a vibrant network that pushes for technical and cultural change in newsrooms. This survey helps us understand how these roles operate in journalism and how to support the career trajectories of this community. OpenNews conducted the first version of this survey last year and led the development of the 2017 survey, with the support of Google News Lab and a community advisory group.
756 news nerds responded to the survey. While they were sourced from the intersection of journalism and technology, it does not perfectly represent the industry. Let’s take a closer look.
First, the survey respondents were 57% male. While we could have hoped for more gender diversity among respondents, the group is more balanced than last year (41% female in 2017 vs. 33% female in 2016).
Roughly three-quarters of the respondents were white. 38% were 30 years old and younger. The survey was also international, with 25% of respondents residing outside the US. The top 3 reported job titles were reporter (112), developer (102), and editor (102).
Learning and Support
Let’s dive into the results. With traditional journalists, designers, and coders working hand-in-hand, the journalism tech community is an eclectic bunch. So this raises the question: how did people find their way into the field in the first place? It seems to be some mixture of formal training, self-study, and mentorship.
A majority of respondents followed a circuitous path into journalism tech. Over half of respondents who provided information on their educational background received an undergraduate or graduate degree in a field other than journalism or computer science.
Over 90% of respondents cited self-study as “important” or “very important” in the development of the skills they currently use as a “news nerd.” That’s much more than their undergrad degree (24%) or graduate degree (41%), if they received one.
People who spend more time on reporting than coding were more likely to cite a colleague’s mentorship as a key part of their skill development than coders. But compared to coders, a smaller percentage of reporters claimed to have taught, mentored, or supported others in the last year. Reporters find mentoring more valuable than coders, yet fewer of them do it.
Skills and Career Development
The survey also provided insight into the kinds of skills that news nerds are interested in building and how these relate to challenges facing their newsrooms. While many news nerds hope to develop technical abilities, they’re also interested in building managerial skills and bringing in project management support. How might we facilitate skill development in new and emerging roles?
When asked about skills that they were look to build within the next year, 66% of respondents reported some kind of technical skill, with Python, Javascript, and R as the most popular choices.
Nearly half of non-technical respondents (those who marked that they “never” spend time coding) also chose a technical skill.
When asked about the type of person they would want to add to their existing team, 48% of respondents cited a role that requires technical skills (data, web development, engineering, newsroom tools). But the top response overall, from 8% of respondents, was "project manager." Managerial, editorial, and team communication roles were mentioned by 23% of respondents.
Despite the overwhelming desire to add technical talent, only 32% of respondents said that recruiting technologists was a major challenge facing the industry. The top-cited challenges (below) potentially explain respondents’ desire for managerial roles on their team.
Biggest challenge facing your newsroom...to developing / using technology as a core journalistic practice? (all that apply)
Too many projects
52%
Balance between own projects and newsrooms’
50%
Lack of editors qualified to supervise technologists
39%
Lack of budget
34%
Hard to recruit technologists
32%
Org. doesn’t understand value of work
30%
Diversity and Inclusion
Finally, let’s take a look at diversity and inclusion in the workplace. It came up as a top area of concern in last year’s survey and this year proved to be no different. How can news organizations engage with staff and stakeholders to promote healthier work environments?
When asked about the three things that the journalism tech community “needs” right now, 29% of people cited some variant of “diversity.” This represents a 4% increase from last year.
What does the journalism tech community need now? Name your top 3 things.
Diversity
Mentorship/Training
Resources/Funding
Transparency/Documentation
Coordination/Partnerships
29%
28%
14%
11%
11%
Newsrooms have made some strides to implement more inclusive programs. Among respondents who reported their newsroom’s policies, 64% stated that they have parental leave.
Yet less than 13% reported that they were aware that their newsroom had a policy or practice for salary parity.
Newsrooms also have a ways to go if they’re going to eliminate all forms of harassment. 20% of respondents who work at a news or media organization reported that they were the target of microaggressions or direct harassment in the course of their job. Harassment tends to happen more often inside the newsroom—by managers, coworkers or other personnel—than outside the newsroom with sources or interviewees.