Journalism programs working to stay current with industry practice often struggle to do so without forgoing traditional journalism skills and attributes. This longitudinal study involves content analysis of more than 1,800 jobs posted in either 2010 or 2015 by companies listed among the top 10 newspaper and broadcast journalism companies in the United States. The researchers found an increased demand for employee skills in social media and audience engagement, and a significant trend toward seeking candidates that exhibit web/multimedia skills, teamwork, and the ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines.
Journalism programs in America's colleges and universities are seeing record enrollments, despite dire predictions that journalism may be a dying industry and that jobs are scarce and getting scarcer. In order to prepare broadcast journalism students for the dynamic nature of the industry, it has become more important than ever for educators to stay abreast of the evolution of skills and attributes that are most important for employment and success in the journalism profession today. For the third consecutive year, a content analysis was conducted over a period of 3 months in 2008, 2009, and 2010 for all the employment opportunities posted by the top 10 broadcast journalism companies in the United States. The researchers identified several important findings over the 3-year period, including a significant increase in multimedia skills required by employers. In addition, findings consistent from year to year may boost educator confidence in using the results as a guide to specific curricular reforms. For example, the need for students to work in teams and for educators to create or simulate deadline pressure in assignments is critical. The ability Downloaded from to post content to the web, to write for the web, to shoot video and still photos and to work within the mobile and social media spaces seem to be essential.
A revolution in delivery methods for news and information has created an urgent need for journalism educators to define critical skills for success in the profession. A content analysis was conducted over three-month periods in 2008 and 2009 for all employment opportunities posted by the top ten American newspaper and broadcast journalism companies. More than fourteen hundred postings were coded to determine the most desirable skills and attributes for job candidates. Researchers identified important changes from year to year, including an increased emphasis on Web/multimedia skills for broadcast newsrooms and the emergence of social media and mobile content delivery as desired skills.
European journalism educators and practitioners seem to expect professional outcomes which are quite different from those in the United States. The 50 competencies and qualifications published as the Tartu Declaration of the European Journalism Training Association in 2006 have been compared with a list of 22 competencies and qualifications discovered in a wide-ranging review of editorial employment advertisements in the United States in 2008 and 2009. Results suggest a very narrow overlap in otherwise disparate sets of expectations. This raises questions for future research such as does this disparity impede professional migration for journalists between the two continents, and does it undermine intercultural transferability of contemporary journalism curricula. An unexpected additional finding is that, while US media rhetoric and history emphasize Constitutional first Amendment press freedom issues, only the European list accords any importance to journalists’ awareness of media’s societal role.
Graham Media has developed the Membership for Broadcast Project, which received grant funding last year as part of the Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge. The goal within Graham’s stations is to identify and engage with as many viewers as possible on a scale seldom seen in local TV news. The process involves a new way of thinking about data, who should own it and who should control it. Electronic News explores the initiative to offer a roadmap for other stations that may want to try something similar.
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