Cabalin and Lagos Lira (2012) show that 68 per cent of journalists considered they needed more preparation, with 93.9 per cent valuing continuing education. Additionally, 57.4 per cent developed professionally through workshops within their own medium of practice, and 25.6 per cent undertook a specialisation programme. According to Yez (2011), 59.3 per cent of journalists said they have not been part of any specialisation course provided by their company. Although numbers differ, continuing training and development are, yet, rare.
Development opportunities for journalists have increased with universities offering master’s degrees and specialisation courses in specific aspects of the profession, such as investigative journalism, fact-checking, social media, narrative journalism, or written journalism. While these programmes usually have schedules compatible with a regular workweek, they are expensive. Nonetheless, there has been an increase in instances of continued development and training for practicing journalists. Continuing education programmes in universities bring in guests and offer free or low-cost seminars. The Network of Journalists in Chile has focused on offering cheap workshops with tools for reporters. However, 59.8 per cent of journalists declare that their long workdays do not allow them the time to pursue specialisations (Cabalin & Lagos Lira, 2012).
