I hope this blog post is premature. I would love to retract it tomorrow as an error, but it appears to me that No Train, No Gain is dead. The website launched 10 years ago, so it lived a long life in Internet years. But I mourn nonetheless.
I got involved in newsroom training as a sidelight in 1997, and after I added it to my official duties with a 1998 move to the Des Moines Register, I joined a listserv for newsroom trainers, Newscoach. The group, which never formed an official association, met annually at the old West Coast office of the Freedom Forum in San Francisco, under the leadership of the late Bev Kees. I can’t remember if I was aware of the 1999 conference. I very much wanted to attend the 2000 conference, but it met just as I was changing jobs from the Register to the Omaha World-Herald. While I negotiated for the World-Herald to send me to the conferences every other year, I couldn’t go that first year, because the conference fell right before I moved.
At that conference, the trainers decided to form a website where trainers could share workshop handouts, exercises and other training materials. A message seeking volunteers went out on the listserv and I volunteered. I became content coordinator, which meant I would ask trainers to contribute content, screen the contributions and pass them along to the webmaster for posting. I also contributed all of my training materials, and I developed a handout for every workshop that I presented.
Our webmaster was Dolf Els, who was in charge of training for Media24, a large media company in South Africa. Dolf and I became good friends, exchanging frequent emails over the next several years and meeting at two or three of the annual conferences (which moved from the Freedom Forum and San Francisco to Poynter and St. Petersburg, Fla.) as well as once when he visited Washington.
Dolf designed and ran an excellent site and newsroom trainers around the world contributed training materials. The last traffic reports I heard (probably 2006 or 2007) were that we were getting 13,000 unique visitors a month from more than 100 different countries. For several years, we were the No. 1 hit when you Googled “newsroom training.”
Nothing has contributed more to whatever renown I have gained in journalism than NTNG. I personally was contacted by journalists from dozens of countries, asking if they could use a handout or seeking advice on training issues. I know some of my NTNG materials were translated into at least Russian, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian and Bahasa Indonesia. As I traveled to conferences, newsrooms and universities, I almost always found someone who knew my work from NTNG, and many were using my materials in their classrooms and newsrooms.
As I have noted in this blog before, people often asked me how I could afford to give away my training materials, and my response was that I couldn’t afford not to. NTNG directly or indirectly led to tens of thousands of dollars in outside income for me, as well as to a full-time training job in 2005 with the American Press Institute. In 2004, I started my first blog for NTNG, “Training Tracks,” blogging about issues and people related to journalism training. When I moved to API, I moved the blog to API’s site, but Dolf kept linking to my posts from NTNG.
The last year or two the site has been almost dormant. Dolf was doing some work in China for Media24, and didn’t have time to update when he was traveling. Eventually he left Media24. I am sorry to say I have not kept in touch well enough to know what he’s doing now (I messaged him on Facebook and will update when I hear from him). Even without fresh content, we remained the No. 1 hit for “newsroom training” for well over a year.
And now it appears to be gone. Lots of trainers contributed materials to the site. I won’t remember them all here, but I encourage you to add some names if you know them: Michael Roberts, Joe Hight, Debbie Wolfe, Laurie Hertzel, Gregg McLachlan, Ana Estela de Sousa Pinto, Matt Baron, Eric Nalder, Joe Grimm.
I still have most of my handouts that were posted to NTNG, though they are in need of updating. I will post them (probably without enough updating) to my blog in the coming weeks. And I think I can find most of my old Training Tracks blog posts in Google’s cache and will post them here as well.
No Train, No Gain was an extraordinary experience from a time when newsrooms valued training more than they do today. My involvement with it was a highlight of my career. I thank and salute Dolf Els and my other collaborators.
Steve, thanks for sharing your memories of a site that taught important skills to so many journalists, including me.
If you and other former NTNG contributors seek a worldwide audience for your training materials, I hope you’ll consider sharing them with the International Journalists’ Network, IJNet.org, as you have generously done in the past.
IJNet provides training resources and information in Arabic, English, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. We’ll also introduce Chinese this fall along with our redesigned website. The training materials you share with IJNet help journalists in 200 countries each month improve their skills, their careers and their communities.
Jennifer Dorroh
Director, the International Journalists’ Network, IJNet.org
International Center for Journalists
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man, steve, that website saved me so many times when i had to come up with a class or training on the spot. it was excellent. if that site is completely dead–and i know it hasn’t been updated in a long while–that is an enormous loss.
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[…] September 9, 2010 by Steve Buttry This is the handout for my workshop on short narrative writing. I used to do this workshop quite often, but haven’t done it for a couple years. The handout was originally posted at No Train, No Gain. I am posting some of my NTNG handouts here, with some updating, because NTNG is no longer online. […]
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Steve,
I also want to thank you for all that website brought to journalists and how it helped me ushering new reporters into the field.
You should be very proud.
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I just went back searching for an old NTNG post this week and was disappointed to see the site was gone. Thanks for posting some of your tip sheets here. I hope others follow your lead!
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I still need that site. I was just trying to use it today and saw and it was gone. 😦
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Like others, I mourn the loss of NTNG. Today, I was prepping for the classes I’ll teach next week. In beginning newswriting, the lesson will focus on generating story ideas. I’ve always linked to NTNG’s handy tipsheet on “50 places to shop for story ideas.” And now it’s gone. ;(
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Wow, Steve. I was just looking for some writing analytics I promised a young writer the other day and so naturally I googled no train no gain. I got this instead (:
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Thanks Steve. I had just noticed recently that the No Train No Gain site was gone. It sure was a super resource and I was honoured to be among those sharing tips and articles. No worries, I’m still kicking at http://www.WorkCabinCommunications.ca, and will soon have journalism book coming out aimed at j-students and grads. cheers, Gregg
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[…] Institute (updated somewhat). The original version of this handout was initially posted on the No Train, No Gain […]
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As an American journalism trainer working with reporters in post-Communist and developing countries, I can say I’m sorry to see NTNG go. Any chance for a revival? Maybe on FB? I’m happy to contribute my personal materials.
Cheers,
Patti McCracken
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Patti,
I’m too busy to launch a Facebook page for trainers myself, but I would support (and join) such an effort. I hope someone revives NTNG in some fashion.
Steve
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[…] reporting job at the Omaha World-Herald, I published all of my training materials online at the No Train, No Gain website. People frequently asked me how I could afford to give my handouts and exercises away for […]
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[…] of an informal newsroom trainers group that never became an official association but operated a website and a listserv and had an annual conference, first at the Freedom Forum and later at Poynter. It […]
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Came across your site searching for No Train No Gain … Sorry to see it’s no longer online. But just so you know, a lot of the past content can still be accessed at the Internet Archive (archive.org) through the Wayback Machine
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.notrain-nogain.com
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[…] archives of No Train, No Gain are available through the Internet […]
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Thanks to all who have commented here. In case you missed Bill’s comment (thanks, Bill!), much of the NTNG content is available at the Internet Archive. I just blogged about it: http://bit.ly/eidAD8
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[…] 21, 2011 by Steve Buttry As I noted earlier today, Bill Bradley helped me find archives of No Train, No Gain at the Internet Archive. So over the next few weeks, I will be posting my old contributions to […]
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[…] successful when I used the web (through this blog, an earlier blog, a now-defunct website called No Train, No Gain, and, yes, Twitter) and personal appearances to build a personal brand, first as a newsroom trainer […]
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[…] more openly available than I was (I developed a handout for every workshop and posted them all at No Train, No Gain, a website I helped found and run). That niche gave me a level of distinction in the news business […]
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[…] with colleagues in the United States and South Africa on a journalism training site called No Train, No Gain, I quickly saw the global reach of digital media. I would email a handout from one of my workshops […]
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[…] all efforts to innovate. In 2000, I collaborated with newsroom trainers around the world to launch No Train, No Gain, a website of journalism training […]
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[…] have been meaning to post more of my old workshop handouts from No Train, No Gain to this blog. Unfortunately, I was prompted to post this one and another, about attribution, by a […]
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[…] have been meaning to post more of my old workshop handouts from No Train, No Gain to this blog. Unfortunately, I was prompted to post this one and another, about cheating, by a […]
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[…] have been meaning to post more of my old workshop handouts from No Train, No Gain to this blog. Unfortunately, I was prompted to post this one and another, about attribution, by a […]
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[…] the original version of this workshop handout several years ago. It was originally published on No Train, No Gain. I don’t watch enough TV to have a clever way to update the cultural references I included in […]
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[…] the original version of this handout about 10 years ago. It was initially published on the No Train, No Gain website. I have updated it several times through the years, including today. I publish it on my […]
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[…] tips, which were my online staple back in my No Train, No Gain days, still draw interest. My second most popular post of the month, with nearly 900 views, was on […]
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[…] Sree’s “Web Tips” columns for a few years now. He wrote once about the “No Train, No Gain” web site that I help Dolf Els run along with some other newsroom trainers. After Sree […]
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Thank you for sharing on this blog. I am a Criminal Defense Investigator who found a lot of relevent training material on NTNG. I, too, am sad to see it go. Hopefully more people like you will be equally generous in sharing their experience and knowledge.
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[…] for a series of ethics seminars for the American Press Institute. It appeared online originally at No Train, No Gain, but has not been available online for the last couple of years. I am republishing it without […]
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[…] first blog, from 2004 to 2008, was Training Tracks, published first on No Train, No Gain and later at the American Press Institute‘s website. It didn’t draw nearly the traffic […]
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[…] or so blogs. My first blog, Training Tracks, focused on journalism training issues, first for the No Train, No Gain website and later for the American Press Institute. Mimi has also been a columnist for half a dozen […]
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[…] posts from my Training Tracks blog, which have disappeared from the American Press Institute and No Train, No Gain websites. This year, in addition to all those N2 posts, I re-posted old posts about getting […]
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[…] to supplement my speaking and exercises and was amazed at how those handouts, posted online at No Train, No Gain spread my reputation as a trainer among journalists around the […]
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[…] On my list of most-read posts of the year, a 2010 post (and even older workshop handout from No Train, No Gain) on tips on accuracy and verification came in right behind the 2013 verification post, with nearly […]
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Hello Steve:
Your post is really useful and enlightening. I am experiencing a hard time on this issue of reinventing my career and your thoughts are refreshing and encouraging to me.
I would like to do as many things you suggest; actually those are my goals (learning, for example) however, the particular hinder on my way is something you mentioned just in a very subtle way: money.
Right now I already decided to leave my job and began looking for a new one; basically because my current job has been a wasting time investment (at least making an objective balance today and objectively forecasting my odds, cons and red numbers are higher than pros) I am in the communications field having experience in many realms. Actually, versatility is what I can tag as my specialty. Yet, I realized (based on many things, including research) that what I have to do and what I want to do is to focus myself in Marketing.
Unfortunately, my proven experience is not enough in that sector. But, I can´t face to be an intern or to start from scratch for one single reason: I have to keep my income standard.
In some way, you give us with your writing several clues to take in count in order to work this issue out (learning, taking lessons, getting by myself in this field and mostly “ Consider why they would say yes and make your pitch”)
Do you have any other advice?
Thank you
@ClicerioMP
Mexico
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Good luck in finding the right next step for your career! I have blogged a lot of career advice.
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[…] (now News Editors) and an informal network of newsroom trainers that operated a list-serv, the No Train, No Gain website and met in annual conferences, but never formally […]
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[…] With 18 posts in the month (this makes 19 and it’s the first one this week), this wasn’t nearly my busiest month (on this blog, at least). I had 30 posts in January and 37 in October 2012 and set personal traffic records in both of those months. Both months got boosts from guest posts and October 2012 also got help from reposting some old posts from my old Training Tracks blog. […]
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[…] conversations on a list-serv of newsroom trainers and published all my workshop handouts on the No Train, No Gain website, for which I volunteered to become content […]
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[…] in the 1990s, about using story elements. An earlier version of this handout was posted on the No Train, No Gain website. I didn’t add a lot of digital tips to this one, but I updated the reference to my […]
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[…] because I think it might still have value.An earlier version of this handout was posted on the No Train, No Gain website. I often paired this, either in the same workshop or in companion workshops, with my […]
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[…] I’ll contribute a little to this discussion by reposting and updating a handout we used in a series of ethics seminars I developed and led for the American Press Institute from 2005 to 2010. My original version of the handout below was published on the No Train, No Gain website. […]
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[…] it was a popular choice back in my writing-coach days. I posted it more than a decade ago on the No Train, No Gain website, but I’ve updated it a bit (the Word doc I had it on was dated […]
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[…] those engagements on company time. I also attended newsroom training conferences and helped run the No Train, No Gain […]
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[…] ورشة العمل هذه مع “الكتابة بينما تقوم بالتغطية” No Train, No Gain وهذا المزج بين عملية سرد القصص واستخدام عناصر القصة […]
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[…] 2000, the trainers on the Newscoach list launched the No Train, No Gain website for sharing newsroom training materials. I became the content coordinator and leading […]
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