Help Wanted

Abstract

Journalism outlets are moving quickly to embrace mobile technology as a means of gathering and disseminating news content. At the same time, journalism educators are ramping up to prepare their graduates for jobs that include the need for mobile skills. This mixed-methods research includes content analysis of more than 700 job postings from the Top 10 TV and newspaper companies in the United States, as well as interviews with news executives. The researchers found that a broad range of broadcast journalism positions require mobile skills, including producers, anchors, and reporters. Regardless of media platform, journalism employers want new hires to understand how to gather news with mobile devices, use them to interact with the social media audience, and how to format content appropriately for the medium. This research offers guidance to journalism programs looking to revise or create courses to provide graduates with these skill sets.