What are the skills most often used by online journalists?  Topping the list in a recently published survey was…drum roll, please… writing or editing scripts.

Yes, in a poll of 49 online journalists, researchers Ryan Thornburg and Ying Roselyn Du asked practitioners to rank their daily duties from a list of 26 possibilities.

Here are their Top 10:

1. Writing or Editing Scripts

2. Project Management

3. Blogging

4. User Interface Design/Photo Shooting (tie)

6. Video Production

7. Staff Organization/Administration

8. Story Combining/Shortening

9. Reporting and Writing Original Stories

10. Photo/Image Editing

What’s interesting is how many basic multimedia journalism skills appear on the list.  Ranked last on the list of 26 duties was audio production and analyzing site usage metrics was second from the bottom.

Those working as online journalists were also given a list of concepts and asked which was most important on the job.  Number one was multitasking, followed by the ability to learn new technologies and attention to detail.

The research was published in the Autumn 2011 edition of Journalism & Mass Communication Educator.

“I really like being able to provide people with answers that they don’t have the time or the patience to uncover themselves,” says Walsh.  ”I primarily have been looking at government agencies and issues of transparency and accountability.  Everyone has access, but unfortunately it’s time consuming to get it, so as an investigative journalist you’re really providing a service.”

WPTV’s investigative unit recently produced a story about six-figure salaries within local government agencies.  Walsh made it possible for viewers to search the data themselves.

Walsh has been out of school for just a few years, but she says technology has made it easier for younger journalists to produce investigative stories.

“With everything going online with tools and data and all the data mining you can now do, those of us who grew up with the Internet and who work with the Web on a daily basis have an advantage going in,” says Walsh.

So, what does an aspiring investigative journalist need to know?

• How to use Microsoft Excel and Access — two software programs essential for crunching data
• The laws journalists use to get public records at both the state and the federal level
• How to search through data and to build your own database

“I do everything in Google Docs and Fusion Tables,” says Walsh.  ”They’re easy to use and easy to share. I use Caspio to build searchable databases.”

Walsh says that because she made it clear to her employers that she liked this type of work, they gave her training opportunities.

“You have to learn how to ask for information and who to ask, and then be willing to pick up the phone,” says Walsh.

In her current role, Walsh works with a team of investigative reporters.   She sifts through and evaluates story tips, manages public records requests for the team, does shooting and interviewing and generally helps get stories on the air.  She says it’s not unusual to be trying to keep track of dozens of stories at once.

“To be an investigative producer, you have to be an organized person.  You have to be on top of things and meet deadlines, and you have to be flexible.”

We’re using a 4:3 format (not 16:9) which matches photo aspect ratios better, and also advising on avoiding portrait shots, or keeping them to a minimum. In the past, we’ve found leaving students to their own devices, the arbitrary alternation between landscape (full frame) and portrait (with black bars on sides) is distracting after a dozen shots. We’re exporting to YouTube and embedding that “video” into a page. We’re also giving advice to be restrained with transitions and moves.

Downsides: user-controlled captions and self-pacing not possible if done as a video. Stuck with single resolution of video.

Upsides: Don’t have to teach confounding FTP commands to users and find server space for Soundslides. Build on existing knowledge of video editing tool (FCP) and full control of image keyframes/motion.

What Lih says makes sense — if you’re already using or plan to use Final Cut Pro for video editing, taking this approach eliminates the need for purchasing and learning another piece of software.

Of course, Soundsides also offers an option to create detailed captions, which is possible using titles in FCP, but certainly less elegant.

Curt Chandler, a senior lecturer in multimedia at Penn State, also weighed in on the Facebook discussion, suggesting that it may be easier to teach video if you get the hang of Soundslides first.

“Everyone should have a smartphone in the future; it’s baseline gear,” says Damon Kiesow of Boston.com.

Speaking at the Society of Professional Journalists convention in New Orleans, Kiesow says newsrooms have to get more “intentional and strategic” when it comes to mobile.

“It doesn’t work to just go buy 20 iPhones and tell the reporters to figure it out,”  says Kiesow. “You need to know what you want to accomplish and provide training.

Kiesow also says that journalists’ smartphone should have these features:

• Both still & video cameras
• An active developer community that keeps coming up with new apps
• GPS capabilities
• Wifi  (4G must faster and better for sending video/photo — though iPhone 5 probably won’t have it)

Yet, his view is that news organizations need to have more than a three-screen strategy, they have to have an all-screen strategy.

“We have a handheld and a lap-sized screen now, but we’re going to a tabletop and living room wall screen in the future,” says Tallent.

According to Tallent, the media used to be divided into four silos — radio, TV, newspapers and the Internet — and we needed four different devices to access the content.  Now, says Tallent, all of the silos are collapsing into a single medium.

“The Fox News iPad app has a radio tuner, the CNN app has live TV,” Tallent says.

And Tallent points to statistics that say native apps are in the process of replacing websites.  For the first time, Flurry, which tracks mobile use, reported this year that minutes per day spent on apps surpassed time spent on websites.  In another survey from the University of Missouri, researchers found that 93% of people say they prefer the app experience to their experiences on websites.

“The iPhone and iPad are not mobile devices; they are the fourth major development in computing,” says Tallent.

So, how can journalists prepare themselves for the mobile world?

Mike Ligon, VP of operations for Mecury, says that for journalists, understanding the technology that underpins digital distribution is more important than learning how to build the technical infrastructure.

“I would learn about social media engagement,” says Ligon.  ”And writing for mobile? No one has yet figured out how to segment content specifically for mobile users.”

Ligon says USAToday may have come the closest to creating content that’s mobile-friendly, perhaps because the paper was already designed to disseminate information in easily digestible chunks.  But, Ligon says, most news organizations continue to simply repurpose content across platforms.

“Students need to study the presentation of content,” says Tallent.  ”When clients tell me they want an app that will ‘wow” the user, I just want to walk away.  What people are looking for in an app is something that makes them feel comfortable.”

Beyond usability, Mecury’s creative director, Rusty Mitchell, says that journalists need to be thinking more about the news consumer.

“You need to be thinking about what the user wants to do after reading your story,” Mitchell says. “If it’s an international story they may want a map; if it’s a story about new music, they may want an iTunes link.  Even websites don’t do a good enough job of anticipating user needs and desires.”

The majority of 2010 bachelor’s degree recipients said they had the skill when they completed their studies to write for the Web, edit for the Web, use still photography on the Web, adapt to the digital environment generally, and use the social media professionally.

In a follow-up question the researchers asked graduates to list skills, if any, they felt were missing. More than three of 10 dealt with the Web specifically.

Many of the skills listed, such as knowledge of HTML, programming and social media, are part of the Web environment. Others, such as graphic design and photo editing, have strong Web connections.

In addition, the 2010 Annual Survey of Journalism & Mass Communications Graduates found that two-thirds  of grads working in communication are writing and editing for the Web.

The researchers said, “Almost regardless of employer type, writing and editing for the Web is a prominent part of the work landscape.”

More than half are using social network sites in their jobs as well, and a fifth are designing and building websites.

When it comes to getting and keeping jobs, this year shows a slight improvement over last, but pay remains low and benefits relatively poor.

In fact, the median salary earned by the 2010 graduates of $30,000 is exactly the same as the median salary reported in 2006, the last year that salaries improved over the year before.

Break that down by media type and once again, TV news salaries are the lowest — the average for 2010 was $25,400 (though that’s up from $24,900 a year earlier).

As in previous years, women were hired at rates higher than men, though the researchers explain that as a factor of advertising and public relations attracting more women.

Minority graduates in 2010 once again had a more difficult time in the job market than did graduates who were not members of racial and ethnic minorities. The gap in 2010 of 17.1% is the largest ever recorded in the survey.

As we did last year, we asked what stations were doing with social media, and there’s been a change in the last year.  Although this open-ended response is really more anecdotal information than empirical data, there appears to have been a shift in the last year from using social media primarily as a promotional tool to using it heavily — if not primarily — to have conversations with the audience.  Most news directors noted seeking comments, feedback or interaction.  Some talked about livechat and crowdsourcing, but most of the comments dealt with conversations.

Chip Mahaney, director of digital content at E.W. Scripps, says TV operations need to be more strategic.

“I think there are very few that have had the next conversation, which is, ‘What is our goal? ‘Why are we doing this? What do we want to build and how does our time and effort that we spend building these social media networks help build our entire business?’”

As the folks at Mashable point out, it offers little new for anyone who already uses the social network consistently, but for those who are new to the game or trying to teach others about Twitter, it’s a great resource.

A couple quick highlights:

• Using Twitter to the fullest requires you to build an audience first — without a significant number of followers, your requests will likely go unanswered and your tweets unread.
• The tips on branding yourself or your organization on Twitter are useful — especially if you are just creating an account.

Of course, Facebook is also providing advice to journalists as Advancing the Story described in a previous post.

1. To source material

2. To find sources

3. To share more of a story

4. To enhance existing products

Joyce used the Haiti earthquake as an example.  Before any NBC crews were on location, Joyce turned to social media, looking for information that could be published right away.

On Twitter, Joyce found a user named Jean Pierre.

“In one tweet, he described how the wall of an orphanage had fallen down,” Joyce said.  ”I went to his page, DM’d him and asked if there was a way we could talk.”

Jean Pierre’s story was so compelling that MSNBC ended up embedding a crew with him at the orphanage and ultimately created haitiamputees.msnbc.msn.com.

Another story that “bubbled up through social media” gave NBC a unique angle on the Tuscaloosa tornado disaster.

“By tracking social media, we were able to show how the storms turned sports enemies into allies,” said Joyce.  ”Once the story aired, we pushed from the story to the group’s Facebook page.”

According to Joyce, social media is allowing even huge organizations to develop much more personal relationships with the audience.  For example, she pointed to a live chat with reporter Anne Thompson, in which about two dozen people got a chance to “talk” one-on-one with Thompson through Cover It Live.

“My main message — when it comes to new media — everybody is behind,” Joyce said, “and everybody has an equal chance of getting caught up.

But Joyce also warns against reporting that stops with the stories found on social media.

“It’s easy to let the information wash all over you.  As a reporter, your job is to push forward and look for more.”

Lavrusik will be responsible for maintaining the new Journalists on Facebook page.

The new page acts as a sort of “How To” guide for journalists and features sections such as “Get Started,” “Best Practices,” “Videos” and “Articles.”

The page already has more than 57,000 “Likes” likes and the posts by Lavrusik are supplemented by comments and wall posts from many other journalists as well.

According to CNN.com, Facebook is trying to increase the the site’s potential impact as a news reporting tool.

Thanks to Ole Miss graduate student Ryan Whittington for pointing out this development.