Journalists' education:

Journalists' college-based training primarily focuses on the process of newsgathering and dissemination. In other words, the focus is on skills such as reporting, writing, editing, photography, graphics/design, and the use of new technologies. While a liberal arts curriculum potentially gives them analytical skills, it does not necessarily provide expertise in specific subjects such as business, economics and science. The same is true for philanthropy.

A journalism professor at Louisiana State University surveyed 87 schools of journalism and found that none used a textbook that taught about covering nonprofits. Gary Atkins, journalism professor at Seattle University, bemoans the fact "there are no quality texts for teaching students about philanthropy." Washington State University's school of journalism deals with the topic only from the angle of how to read an IRS Form 990, covered in a couple of pages in a text on investigative reporting techniques.