As digital means are transforming the entire profession of journalism – from text creation to big data analysis – requirements for further professional training are obvious. The chair of the journalists’ union confirmed the growing need for training, but observed that journalists attend less trainings than ten years ago.
The reason for this neglect is certainly not the supply side: Austria has two institutions providing further training for journalism, the Kuratorium für Journalistenausbildung,[i] and the forum for journalism and media.[ii] Both offer numerous courses of all sorts for skill and qualification development, including digital skills, and in the case of the board of trustees for journalism education, also a journalistic diploma. In addition, some provinces in Austria offer journalism training (e.g., Upper Austria), and ORF runs its own training centre for employees. Universities and other higher education institutions complement this already long list by offering further education courses in the field. As a result, more than half (51%) of all journalists are rather or very satisfied with their options for further education (Kaltenbrunner et al., 2020: 253).
However, participation in trainings requires time and money, and both are scarce in newsrooms, respondents confirmed. Most editors-in-chief, who must approve such trainings, are willing to second journalists, but demand is limited. In exceptional cases, young talents are even sent to prestigious journalism universities such as Columbia University. By law, there are no requirements for journalists to attend further education, and all educational measures are voluntary; in turn, there is no right to continuous training either. If journalists ask for it, financial support is not guaranteed, but it is quite prevalent in Austrian newsrooms.
[i] https://www.kfj.at/
[ii] https://www.fjum-wien.at/
