Your map work at usc back in 2004 (http://www-scf.usc.edu/~jour556/people/elements/rentsmap.shtml?Rosa) went to new dimensions!

I agree with your argument.

Some software is likely to be crafted in newsrooms, but the applications are somewhat predictable and modular for news and could be easily productized removing the complexity.

I have developed software and content over the years and have looked outside the industry for inspiration and innovation. I get a little nervous when i think of true software development and news media in the same breadth.

There are some amazing teams doing content and technology at news orgs. While it makes sense for some to have a programmer on staff, i think that we need to welcome and train new flavor of journalist that has journalism, design and basic programmings skills. A web producer that can wrangle api’s, and handle basics of databases to integrate pre-existing modules. I have found folks with CAR training up to most tasks and many multimedia designers also more than capable if given the opportunity.

So back to your map…

Wow, if ever there was a story for a map, that was one….A day will come when the map (visual) is as or more important than the blog and you’d get the map up before the blog.

Today’s Mumbai piece in the nytimes had a great interactive, that seen set the story and helped me understand the overall picture, prepping me to dive deeper into paragraphs of analysis.(http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/11/26/world/asia/20081126-mumbai-attacks.html).

As our readers media usage habits change, and their expectations of what lede is will too. A visual lede is a great way to draw people in and to assist in an understanding of the concept.

But programmers in newsrooms is not a make or break for an industry and profession whose core issues stem from more complex issues or relevance, community connectidness and impact.

So here’s an idea, in an open media world, go out to your audience and ask them to help build it, before launching a major software development initiative in a resource strapped newsroom.

With that approach you might get it built faster and and better connect with your community.

Nice article and best of luck on your next adventure.

Elizabeth Osder
http://www.osdergroup.com

Right on. I couldn’t have put together a better list myself.