This year’s big “duh”

Last year, the big “duh” was the raging irrational debate over whether blogs were journalism.

Answer? If you write journalism, it’s journalism. If you record journalism, it’s journalism. Doesn’t matter what medium you choose to display it in, doesn’t matter if you’re the San Jose Mercury News or Grade the News or Rocketboom — it’s journalism if you play by the rules.

This year, the big “duh” is the idea that young J-School students should learn how to work as an online journalist.

Duh.

This isn’t some science fiction prognostication where “Someday, we’ll get our news from computers that fit in our pocket.” That time has come, and it’s been here awhile already.

Should J-Schools be teaching students how to write for the Web, post to the Web, design news for the Web, produce content for the Web, and get jobs on the Web?

Yes.

Duh.

More easy questions:

Should news organizations blog? Yes.

Should they blog about how the proverbial sausage is made? Yes.

Should they use interactive graphics? Yes.

Should they use photo slideshows and video to tell stories? Yes.

Should they provide space for readers to add feedback to the loop? Yes.

Is it a J-School’s job to train students to do all of the above? Yes.

Duh.