All of the respondents considered journalism training to be increasingly important, but resources and practices seem to vary across media organizations. In principle, most of the respondents considered the resources for training to be adequate. The problem in many newsrooms is that individual journalists don’t have the opportunity or time to leave their daily duties and take part in training. According to a recent survey among journalists, a little over half of the journalists thought that possibilities for professional training should be improved. In line with our interviews, many journalists thought that there is enough education available, but not enough opportunities in practice to participate in the training offered (Jyrkiäinen 2008, p. 26, 33).
The Union of Journalists and The Federation of the Finnish Media Industry have agreed on recommendations to advance professional training. The unions agree that education should be diverse, attended regularly, and that part of it should consist of training outside the journalist’s own workplace. There is also a chapter on the education programs in the collective labor agreement.
In many instances, journalists can take paid leave for further education. In the selected media organizations, various forms of training are in use. The largest media organizations, like YLE and Helsingin Sanomat, have their own internal resources for professional training. Most news organizations also use outside consultants or experts for internal training. Much of the regular professional training focuses on technical skills, creative writing, and other professional skills. For more extensive knowledge training, media organizations tend to rely on universities and other places of journalistic higher education. opinions differ on the recent developments. Some respondents estimated that the total volume of professional training has increased recently, while others noted that there has been a temporary decline owing to the economic downturn.
