The average paycheck in local television news was up2.5 percent in 2009 and salaries in local radio news wereunchanged. Both were down the year before–more than 4 percent for TV and almost 2 percent for radio–so that’s an improvement. Considering there really wasn’t any inflation in 2009, Papper says, “news people really did hold their own.”

Long term, however, the picture is bleaker. Over the last five years, inflation has eaten up every salary gain in TV news and more. Paychecks grew by less than 3 percent but inflation rose more than 13 percent. In other words, if you’ve been in TV news for five years, your buying power now is less than when you started out. That’s depressing.

A few job categories did better than others last year. The only TV salaries that changed much were for reporters, managing editors and art directors. All were up by about 10 percent. Thebiggest losers? Sports reporters, whose average salary dropped by about the same amount. Ouch.

As always, the bigger the market the higher the salary. But this year’s data was unusual in one respect. Papper found almost no difference in salary changes by market size and staff size, which he called surprising. Basically, the salary picture was about the same across the board. Not awful. But not great.

Sourced from: NewsLab

According to the study, knowing how to write “print style” or “Web-friendly” stories is a must.  The majority of stations (85%) reported that their producers “frequently” or “sometimes” wrote Web-friendly stories.  Almost all the stations (93%) said their reporters “frequently” or “sometimes” write Web-friendly stories.

Producers, in particular, are also often required to resize or reformat still images and video for the Web.   Producers at well over half (59%) the stations “frequently” or “sometimes” work with still images; similarly, half of the stations said reporters “frequently” or “sometimes” are manipulating still images for Web use.   These findings reinforce the need for multimedia journalists to have an understanding of Photoshop or similar progams.

Producers and reporters also are resizing/reformatting video for the Web. Over half the stations (52%) said their producers perform that task “frequently” or “sometimes.” Reporters work with Web video slightly less: about forty-percent do.

When it comes to higher-level Web production, newscast producers and reporters are less likely to do as much.

We defined multi-media production as creating an integrated package for the Web (such as slide shows) that includes such elements as text, graphics, still or motion video and sound… Less than twenty-percent of stations said producers performed such tasks “frequently.” A third said producers did multi-media “sometimes.”  Just over half the stations reported that producers “never” do multi-media packages.

The findings were similar for reporters. Less than a fourth of the stations (21%) said their reporters were involved in multi-media production “frequently.” About a third said its reporters “sometimes” did it, and at close to half of the stations (45%) reporters “never” did multi-media.

Producers and reporters were also embedding raw documents in stories, adding links and making some use of HTML, but not at very high levels.

Photojournalists were most likely to be involved in putting  additional materials from reporter packages such as extended raw video, natural sound pieces or full sound interviews on the website.

So, how important are Web skills when it comes to hiring for TV jobs?  More than a third (38%) of news directors say such proficiency is “extremely important” when they decide on a new producer hire. Over half (53%) say “somewhat important.” Very similar results were found for reporter hires.  Forty percent of news directors consider new media skills “extremely important” when making hiring decisions, over half (53%) say “somewhat important.”

The research paper, “New Media Skills Competency Expected of TV Reporters and Producers: A Survey” was presented at the AEJMC convention in Denver.  Thanks to Nancy Dupont for the tip and to Suzanne Lysak for sharing the paper.

According to the report: among all cell phone owners:
• 54% have used their mobile device to send someone a photo or video
• 23% have accessed a social networking site using their phone
• 20% have used their phone to watch a video
• 15% have posted a photo or video online
• 11% have purchased a product using their phone
• 10% have used their mobile phone to access a status update service such as Twitter

Gegg says mobile is a vital part of the station’s multimedia strategy.

“Our viewers and users are always on the go, so with our mobile products (including our apps for the iPhone and Android), they can get the news they need at anytime, and anywhere. Our page views on our mobile product climb every month,” Gegg says.

For example, he points out that from May to July 2010, mobile usage of WMTV content climbed 51 percent.

“Also, we consider our viewers/users our eyes in the community. As noted in a recent Pew study, 54% of all cell phone owners have sent a photo or video via their cell phones. Viewer-submitted photos and video is so valuable to us during severe weather and breaking news situation,” Gegg says.

In addition, WMTV reporters and photographers send video and pictures from breaking news scenes that the station can post instantly on the website and social media sites, as well.

Gegg says mobile strategies are going to become increasingly important for journalists to understand.

Media Shift recently explored the various ways in which the content farm works.

But the approach to churning out that content varies from how-to articles (Demand Media), vertical topics (High Gear Media), hyper-local (Patch.com) and sports (Bleacher Report, SB Nation). And at some sites, writers get paid a small amount, while at others they toil for free.

A roundtable of representatives from various content farms talked about the ways in which this is different from citizen journalism and why some people may want to write for free.

Content farms may provide opportunities for writers to get noticed and a forum for those who are passionate about a particular topic or who want to promote a particular agenda or point of view.

Frankly, I think the term is still a bit undefined, but the potential for impact on journalists’ salaries is there, as well as on the overall profitability of news sites. It’s a term we’ll want to learn more about.

“Stay in school forever,” one 2009 grad advised this year’s class. “It all goes down hill from here.”

How tough is it out there? The perecentage of students who graduated in the spring of 2009 who had at least one job offer dropped by nearly 10 percentage points compared to a year earlier. Less than half the graduates had landed a full-time job by the end of October. And finding work was particularly hard for racial and ethnic minorities; the employment gap was the largest ever recorded.

The pain isn’t spread evenly, however. Print journalism majors had an easier time finding work than broadcast students, the report says, and they made more money. The average starting salary at daily newspapers was $27,000 compared to just $24,900 in television–the lowest-paying of all the sectors surveyed. Advertising and PR jobs were among the highest paid at $31,000 plus, and even radio jobs paid more than TV: $29,000 on average.

Any glimmers of hope? A few. Close to 60% of graduates who reported their employment status in 2010 had found full-time work. Even so, only about half of all 2009 journalism grads who had jobs were actually working in a communications field.

Lauderdale says we’ll probably never go back to the days of a single-platform job and that means the “old formula” for finding a job is often not enough.

She says that before the year 2000, you needed a degree, experience with a college media outlet and possibly an internship.  Now, Lauderdale says, you need:

• A degree that covers all platforms
• Emphasis in 1-2 specific skill sets
• Experience with student media
• An internshp is essential
• Basic computer/Web publication skills
• Double major is a plus
• Entrepreneurial skills a plus

When it comes to writing, Lauderdale says everyone should know AP Style, grammar, spelling and timecode (or how to log media).

“Every journalist needs writing and image composition skills,” Lauderdale says.

Bottom line on getting a job?

“Graduates need more than a degree,” Lauderdale says.  “They need  technical ability, internship experience, clips on a portfolio site, a non-academic reference and a love of storytelling.”

That’s what multimedia guru Stephen Quinn believes.  Quinn, who teaches at Deakin University in Australia, shared a bit of his enthusiasm about mobile journalism at the World Jounalism Education Conference in South Africa.

Quinn calls mobile phones a “Swiss army knife” option for journalists.

“They’re compact, light and discreet,” Quinn said.  “Using cell phones forces journalists to think differently.  This new notion of mobility changes the way you perceive and operate in the world.  It’s all about connection.  Reporting involves thinking about how to find wifi, you have to be thinking about battery power.  And our concept of news is broadening – if I can get there, it’s news.”

Quinn says these new capabilities also change audience expectations.

“They know we can get there and expect to get the info,” Quinn says.  Plus, he believes it will help us reach new audiences.

“Mojo appeals to different demos; it appeals to younger audiences,” says Quinn.

Quinn says mojo is part of a change in visual standards, too.  He believes people become more accepting of low quality video, if the content is something they find compelling.

Quinn shared a list of free software programs that mojos can use in live reporting:

• Qik
• Kyte
• Bambuser
• Shozu
• Flixwagon
• Livestream

Quinn says his favorites are Qik and Bambuser for their ease of use.  He also likes the relatively inexpensive tools created by Vericorder.

When it comes to its uses and limitations, Quinn says right now the technology has not evolved enough to make mojo useful for long-form journalism.  However, Quinn says mojo is great for breaking news as evidenced by cell phone coverge of  protests in Burma, elections in Iran, the Jakarta hotel bombings, Haiti quake and the Moscow subway bombings.

Still, Quinn urges journalists not to get all caught up in the “shiny.”

“Pocket journalism is powerful, but needs it still needs a brain behind it,” Quinn says.

• WDBJ to start ‘Mornin’ ‘ half-hour earlier
• KOMU Adding News To CW Subchannel
• WSVN Adding More Weekend News
• Fox 11 ‘now hiring’ for new 4-hour morning show

Ok, it’s only four, but is this a sign?  If so, what kind of sign?  The optimist in me says that this means the economy is rebounding, the pessimist feels nothing but sympathy for those having to “do even MORE with less.”

Dan Bradley, general manager of WCMH in Columbus, Ohio says a number of factors are at play.

“First, I think the trades are making a bigger deal out of the recent announcements than they probably deserve.  The recent announcements barely make a dent in all that was lost over the last 18 months…but then, I guess any positive move should be celebrated,”  Bradley says.

And there is something to celebrate. 
 
“Certainly there are signs the economy is coming back, and local TV is experiencing some robust year to year growth.  Here in Columbus, we are busting our budget each quarter, but most of that;  however,  has been driven by national advertising and political,”  Bradley says.

Marian Pittman, news director at WSB in Atlanta says her station is one of those expanding.

“The audience is apparently there at 4:30 a.m., and they want weather and traffic. In a city like Atlanta people are getting up earlier and earlier and making their commutes,”  Pittman says.

Bradley says he thinks political ad spending is the driver behind some news expansion. 
 
“The vast majority of political spending, especially that which gets spent on local TV is done in news programs.  One way of making sure you get your share, or even the largest share is to add news programs,” Bradley says.

Of course, the big question is what about staffing?  The Fox affiliate in Tuscon, Ariz. reports it plans to hire a dozen people plus an executive news director.  Pittman says she got the go ahead to hire four more people for WSB’s expansion.  The other reports on expansion said little about hiring and Bradley guesses those shops will produce more content primarily with existing staff. 
 
“Here is something to watch for though next year.  Oprah ends her run in September, 2011.  How many stations will fill her time period with local news…want to make a bet?” Bradley asks. “I would say fewer than 10% will opt for that solution.  The reason?  They do not want to make the financial commitment to add the staff necessary to do a real local newscast at 4 p.m. in a way that doesn’t just dilute their established early evening newscasts.”

Still, Pittman says it’s a lot cheaper to do news than to buy syndicated programming, and she’s philosophical about the fact that most stations are not expanding staff when they expand newscasts.

“In  some cases this is saving jobs which is a good thing too.  It’s better to be asked to work harder and smarter than to be told your position has been cut,”  Pittman says.

Research by RTDNA and Hofstra University finds the use of VJs has indeed gone up for the past several years but it hasn’t skyrocketed. About a third of local stations now say they mostly use VJs. Three years ago, it was a little over one in five. And the number of stations that don’t use any VJs has gone down sharply, from 29% in 2006 to 18% today.

But researcher Bob Papper says the real surprise came in answer to this question: Did you use VJs more or less in the past year? Only 12% of news directors said they used them more, while 29% said less. Those numbers aren’t at all what you’d expect in current economic conditions, and even less so given that the survey was in the field during the depths of the recession. Yes, almost half of the news directors who responded said they expected to use VJs more in 2010, but that’s what they always say. “Every year, expected use of more goes up way faster than the actual use,” said Papper.

The VJ experience

So if the numbers don’t suggest a “VJ revolution” just yet, has the increased use of solo journalists made a difference in television news? Mary Angela Bock, a former local television journalist who now teaches at Kutztown University, has been trying to figure that out. She interviewed more than 70 journalists and news managers about their experience with VJs, and her findings don’t support the claims often made about solo journalists.

Specifically, Bock finds little evidence that VJs produce stories their stations wouldn’t get any other way, either by expanding coverage or approaching stories more creatively. On the contrary, she writes, solo journalists tend to “pre-conceptualize” stories ahead of time.

Because they work alone, VJs will be more apt to look for quick and easy access to story elements and they will be less likely to stray from their pre-conceptualization. Instead of the smaller cameras and simpler software making it easier to take chances, television VJs see themselves as having less freedom to take chances with their stories. That‘s not to say that video journalism is not opening possibilities for new sorts of narratives; newspaper VJs are trying to break new ground. VJs who do not produce a story a day can be flexible. But organizations that demand daily filings on tight deadlines are less likely to foster innovation.

The VJs Bock talked to complained that they’re often assigned to easy, one-location features instead of hard news. And that can leave them at a disadvantage when they start looking for the next job, because their resume reels are stuffed with fluff.

It’s probably much too soon to reach a definitive conclusion about how the increased use of VJs has affected local television news, but as Bock writes, “the data…indicate that video journalism can simply be a way for organizations to cut costs without enriching the product.”

Sourced from: NewsLab

In doing content analysis of more than 500 broadcast news job postings from the ten biggest TV news companies in the U.S. at the end of last year, we found that producers are still most in demand for the second year running.  

More than a fifth of all openings were for producers (20.4%), followed by reporter (13%), photographer (8.3%), executive producer (6.1%), Web writer/multimedia producer (5.7%) and assignment desk (5.3%). (Various other categories such as news director, editor, production assistant, etc. made up the rest of the open positions.)

No matter what position you’re applying for, the study also yielded some important information about what skills and attributes are most desirable in job applicants.  Here they are in a top ten list with number one being the most frequently mentioned in job postings:

1. Previous professional experience.
2. Strong writing.
3. Communicaiton skills.
4. Non-linear editing.
5. Web/multimedia skills.
6. Can work as a team player.
7. Can work under pressure & tight deadlines.
8. Creativity.
9. News judgment.
10. Willingness to work long hours.

Use this list to help craft your cover letter and resume.  Sell your  potential employer on your writing skills and the multimedia tools you can use.  If you have previous professional experience (and that includes internships, in my opinion), make sure that’s the first thing they see.

And don’t forget to mention your experience with social media, too.  For the first time this year, we saw job postings asking for applicants who understand how to use social media as a newsgathering and dissemination tool.