In one of the first posts on this blog, we talked about different methods for journalism training, and how ASBPE might help in that arena. In keeping with that theme, here few training resources and ideas:

A Clearinghouse for Journalism Training Resources. Last month, I mentioned ASBPE's membership in the Council of National Journalism Organizations and the Council's work on ethics. Another area where CNJO is trying to aggregate industry efforts is the training of journalists.

Back in 2001, the Council worked with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to develop a survey on the state of journalism training. Nearly 2,000 news executives and staffers were interviewed for the project. The next year, the Knight Foundation published a study for CNJO titled "Newsroom Training: Where's the Investment?" Its conclusions: Lack of training is the major source of job dissatisfaction for U.S. journalists — even ahead of pay and benefits.

So the Council, in conjunction with the Knight Foundation and the Society of Professional Journalists, developed the site journalismtraining.org. The goal is to have all journalism training sources — including J-schools, conferences like ASBPE's, and other venues — listed.

Training by Truck? Folio: magazine editor Tony Silber pitched an interesting approach to training at ASBPE's national conference: A mobile training tour.

The plan involves renting a tractor-trailer and using it as a mini-conference facility. The truck would travel around the country to different publishing companies, which would contract with Folio: for training. The entourage would set up shop in the company's parking lot and editors could come down for a morning or afternoon of training — without taking much time away from the office.

The idea hasn't become reality yet, and it won't happen this year, but it is a pet project that Silber would like to see come to fruition.

Training Newbies, an Hour at a Time. On the ASBPE discussion forum, editorial consultant and ASBPE Lifetime Achievement Award winner Howard Rauch recently offered copies of a guide for training new editorial recruits by spending an hour a day bringing them up to speed. He extends that offer to the general public as well.

Rauch's 10-day schedule covers editing and production basics as well as training in industry background. It assumes that the new editors will be required to spend an additional hour a day reading back issues of the magazine, making notes, and then raising questions during the regular training sessions.

If you'd like to get a copy of the guide, contact Howard at editsol@aol.com or fax your request to (201) 569-2234.