Picking up the thread from Ann Handley’s excellent piece: The more I encounter folks who don’t have a journalism background — and the accompanying struggles they sometimes have in adapting to Web community, conversation and content — the more I realize all those journalism classes and years of training have given me a leg up in the Web world. Strong headlines, copy editing, fact checking, healthy cynicism, substance over fluff, identifying intent, audience advocacy, clarity above all else — all were burned into my soul by fantastic teachers, and all work exceptionally well on the Web. Journalists just get this stuff. What the industry becomes — and how it makes money — are issues that need to be ironed out, but I have no doubt journalism skills will yield excellent return on investment in the digital realm.

Via Bob Stepno’s boblog.