Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
The colorful evolution of newswomen’s attire
Dresses dangled on the racks at Neiman’s and Saks and all Norah O’Donnell needed was a suit.
Earlier this year, when the veteran news anchor was scouring stores for a suit jacket to wear for her “CBS This Morning” publicity photo, she discovered what her viewers have known for years: The women’s blazer is disappearing — from department stores and network news broadcasts.
“I couldn’t find a nice suit jacket that wasn’t black,” O’Donnell said. “You used to find all kinds in blues and hot pinks. They stopped making them. That’s when I thought, what’s changed?”
For her head shot, O’Donnell, 38, ended up choosing a six-year-old navy Giorgio Armani blazer out of her closet, one she rarely wears except when interviewing presidents or heads of state. Like so many working women in the news media and other professions, O’Donnell hasn’t bought a suit in years, a surprising admission given that the newswoman spent her 20s wearing suits so she “could be taken seriously.” The same can be said of seasoned anchors such as Diane Sawyer and Andrea Mitchell, who rarely graced the screen in the 1980s and ’90s without lapels shielding their chests.
For decades, the suit jacket transformed women into workers. With jackets required for entrance at male-dominated clubs and boardrooms, women bundled up their breasts to blend into a professional culture that predated their arrival. But in recent years, even as men continued to assume corporate uniforms of suits and ties, newswomen — one of the last vestiges of female suit wearers — have resoundingly dismissed them from their closets. They now flank themselves in bright sleeveless sheath dresses and stiletto heels, renouncing the once hard-and-fast edicts of television news: no bare legs, no long hair, no feminine distractions from the news. The revision of the female anchor’s dress code happened swiftly and broadly on network and cable television. And if newswomen are the most visible barometers of workplace fashion, the women’s suit may one day go the way of the petticoat.
“Ten years ago, professional dress meant a Talbots suit for women,” said Dave Smith, president of SmithGeiger, a market research firm that consults with news networks. “What’s appropriate for female talent on television has evolved because of familiarity. The audience has equal regard for female and male anchors. It’s given women far more liberty to be feminine.”
O’Donnell agrees: “There has been an evolution of women’s wear on television. Part of that is the changing times, but it’s also because there are more women in media who feel comfortable about what they want to wear.”
That theory of empowerment rings true for many newswomen. They’ve finally laid claim to the anchor’s chair and can let their hair down or, at least, grow it past their shoulders. Even Sawyer and Mitchell have adopted subtle changes in wardrobe. Sawyer sometimes wears crisp black blouses sans jacket while anchoring the evening news. Mitchell often prefers pastel, cap-sleeved shells for her afternoon show on MSNBC.
But skeptics find ulterior motives in the modern newswoman image, one that’s celebrated in men’s magazines and YouTube tributes to the legs of NBC’s “Today.” Skin sells, and media are more competitive than ever: Are networks encouraging lower necklines and higher hemlines to boost ratings?
Some morning show hosts have commented on network edicts regarding dress. Before her departure from “Today,” Ann Curry told Ladies’ Home Journal that executives encouraged her to wear “ridiculously high-heel shoes.” Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” found that executives tried to control her wardrobe when she transitioned into morning television.
“When ‘Morning Joe’ started, I was a hostage to fashion by network executives and stylists, who thought they knew what I should wear,” Brzezinski said, calling the clothes “short, skimpy, tight. They were not me and not Washington.”
It was only when she went on the road with the show during the 2008 primary season that she began choosing her own clothing, which then included J.Crew blouses and casual separates.
“Joe [Scarborough] said, ‘That’s the look you want to hit with this show. You want to be you,’ which is kind of Washington, comfortable, not very showy. My style’s evolved over the years, but it came from shedding the culture of TV news that I used to try and compete in.”
Brzezinski’s current wardrobe falls in line with the modern uniform of female hosts and anchors.
“I can’t imagine wearing a jacket anymore,” Brzezinski said. “But I’m almost 46. There’s not a lot of choices for women my age. I get a lot of people who say, ‘Oh, you can wear that!’ But just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”
Sexuality on screen
What women should wear on television is an ongoing public debate, particularly among newswomen themselves. In a 2011 interview with Katie Couric for Glamour Magazine, Rachel Maddow called the look of cable news “un-businesslike.” Couric concurred, saying, “Some newswomen dress like they’re going clubbing.” Critics point to 24-hour cable news as the catalyst for the changing uniform. But Fox News fashion director Gwen Marder says that workplace fashion was evolving before cable news started showcasing shoulders.
“When I started 12 years ago, anchors wore two-piece suits, a corporate uniform,” said Marder, who buys and styles the wardrobes for 140 Fox anchors and reporters. “About seven years ago, fashion trends started to change and dresses were readily available.”
Fashion labels such as Diane von Furstenberg, Hugo Boss and Anne Klein started producing sheath dresses in solid colors that double as work and cocktail wear. The dresses showed up on cable news anchors around the same time, making it hard to pinpoint whether cable news caused or reacted to the retail trend. But among newswomen, at least, 24-hour cable news networks became the laboratory for a grand makeover, which has since permeated the entire industry.
“We decided to push the envelope,” Marder said. “Everyone was wearing cardigans, and [we] said, ‘Let’s just try the sleeveless dress.’ It started to feel natural to everyone.”
Fox News, which supplies clothing to its anchors like many networks do, gives anchors freedom over their garments, shoes and hemlines, only encouraging women anchors to wear bold colors that producers once eschewed: bright greens, fuchsias, hot pinks. “Our brand is color,” Marder said.
And in only six years since cable news first showcased shoulders, the dress has become the preferred staple of women on television.
“Suits were very expensive,” O’Donnell said. “You can get a really nice dress for $300. I actually find it a lot easier as a working mom.”
Researchers wonder how the new look of news is affecting viewers. Maria Elizabeth Grabe, a telecommunications professor at Indiana University Bloomington, co-authored a study on the impact of sexualization on news viewership. She found that the more “sexualized” a female anchor is, (i.e. bold makeup and clingy clothes), the less likely male viewers are to remember the news. For her 2011 study, a 24-year-old anchor read the same news broadcast twice, once in androgynous, loose-fitting clothing and little makeup and again while wearing bold makeup and attire that accentuated her waist-to-hip ratio. Viewers found the sexualized anchor less credible, but women remembered more from the sexualized anchor’s broadcast, indicating a gender gap in how viewers remember news content.
“The old wisdom of femininity not getting in the way of the news has been thrown out,” Grabe said. “I think the news consultancy business is driving the changes. . . . With cable news networks taking off, it’s all about eyeballs and getting an audience.”
Still, when in doubt, in court or in the presence of breaking news, sleeveless dresses are left hanging in the closet. Candy Crowley and Martha Raddatz both wore traditional black suit jackets for their turns moderating presidential and vice presidential debates. Mitchell wore a militaristic crimson blazer when announcing the resignation of David Petraeus as CIA director. And while the Supreme Court does not require women in the press section to wear suit jackets, they often do, perhaps to show solidarity with their male colleagues, who are required to wear suit and tie when in the chamber covering oral arguments.
A changing age of news
Although some anchors, including Brzezinski and O’Donnell, prefer dresses to suits, the new wardrobe poses questions for television’s 20-something newcomers. Will sunny dresses and four-inch heels make them seem unprofessional?
Kayla Tausche, 26, a reporter for CNBC, is a relatively young face on the business network. Covering corporate finance and mergers, she balances dressing for television with looking appropriate for source meetings on Wall Street.
“If you’re esteemed, you can wear a bright-colored dress. But for younger anchors like myself, I worry that wearing bright colors might appear amateur,” Tausche said. She often wears the same sheath dresses that her colleagues wear but prefers muted colors and tweeds. Young newswomen also tend to make the mistake of dressing older than their years, a faux pas sometimes encouraged by journalism schools.
“In [journalism] classes, some of the clips professors are using to demonstrate a successful reel include interviews with Diane Sawyer from early ’90s,” Tausche said. “You’re supposed to focus on content, but students can’t help but wonder, ‘What was Diane Sawyer wearing? How can I recreate that?’ ”
Journalism schools now have the difficult task of advising women on an appearance standard in flux. Kent Collins, chairman of the television department at the Missouri School of Journalism, trains young anchors to work for the NBC affiliate in Columbia, Mo., as part of the teaching lab at the journalism school. He says female students are asking more questions about their on-screen wardrobes and appearance.
“TV stations across the country want different appearances,” Collins said. “So how do we take someone and get them ready with a video résuméthat stands up in the broad range of conservative to liberal appearance styles throughout markets?” While short skirts and cleavage may work for a reporter in Los Angeles, markets in the heartland could find a sexy meteorologist off-putting.
Collins says the changes make instructors nervous, especially because faculty at broadcast schools have differing opinions on how students should dress for entry-level reporting positions.
“It was easier for us to advise them when it was shorter hair, no jewelry and blazers,” Collins said. “It’s becoming much more complicated. There’s been a lot of talk amongst the women, particularly on the issue of sleeveless. We’re still trying to figure out what’s acceptable.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-colorful-evolution-of-newswomens-attire/2012/11/26/361e914e-2eb4-11e2-beb2-4b4cf5087636_print.html
Alum TV Advice
ALUM REPORTER IN JACKSONVILLE
Learn how to do a story fast. You need to know how to do it in one day. I"ve had to do 3
or 4 stories in one day.
Your package is 1:30-1:45. ALWAYS. Longer packages are not better and will get edited down by an angry producer to 1:30.
Wherever you go, the station will have its own writing style, so you really need to start listening about it. Sentences are SHORT. ALWAYS use present tense, even if it sounds stupid. (that was a hard one for me to accept). With packages, the SOTs and video should tell the story, not the script. My voiceovers are usually only a few sentences long.
ALUM REPORTER IN HUNTSVILLE
Write VERY conversationally.
A tough part of the job is getting the story. Getting people to talk to you that are busy and don’t want to do so. You can know how to write, shoot and edit, but if you don’t come back with the interview, you don’t have the story. Start figuring out how you are going to get it.
The speed at which you are expected to work is much higher. The daily deadlines will push you.
ALUM REPORTER IN BILOXI
Put a face on your story or find an odd angle to take. Don’t just say there was a meeting and people talked.
Writing. Learn to write both for broadcast and print because you may be putting together a package for the TV broadcast one minute and writing the same story in print style for the web the next minute. And you’ve got to both fast.
Multitasking. You’ll have more thrown at you than what you can do unless you stay organized and on top of things.
Learn to develop contacts.
Be eager to work. Ask what you ca do to improve.
Don’t be afraid to screw up.
Get involved in hands on opportunities, both internships and at the Student Media Center.
Learn how to do a story fast. You need to know how to do it in one day. I"ve had to do 3
or 4 stories in one day.
Your package is 1:30-1:45. ALWAYS. Longer packages are not better and will get edited down by an angry producer to 1:30.
Wherever you go, the station will have its own writing style, so you really need to start listening about it. Sentences are SHORT. ALWAYS use present tense, even if it sounds stupid. (that was a hard one for me to accept). With packages, the SOTs and video should tell the story, not the script. My voiceovers are usually only a few sentences long.
ALUM REPORTER IN HUNTSVILLE
Write VERY conversationally.
A tough part of the job is getting the story. Getting people to talk to you that are busy and don’t want to do so. You can know how to write, shoot and edit, but if you don’t come back with the interview, you don’t have the story. Start figuring out how you are going to get it.
The speed at which you are expected to work is much higher. The daily deadlines will push you.
ALUM REPORTER IN BILOXI
Put a face on your story or find an odd angle to take. Don’t just say there was a meeting and people talked.
Writing. Learn to write both for broadcast and print because you may be putting together a package for the TV broadcast one minute and writing the same story in print style for the web the next minute. And you’ve got to both fast.
Multitasking. You’ll have more thrown at you than what you can do unless you stay organized and on top of things.
Learn to develop contacts.
Be eager to work. Ask what you ca do to improve.
Don’t be afraid to screw up.
Get involved in hands on opportunities, both internships and at the Student Media Center.
Getting Discouraged
One thing you shouldn't do is doubt your ability. You've got it, you just need a chance to prove yourself and that has more to do with running across a situation where your availability fits the need (as you know).
I would certainly keep checking all the sites on your list and jump on new additions immediately (which you probably are doing). After a little time has gone by, there's nothing wrong with resending your material to stations who have put out ads that you really fit with- or even calling them (provided there's not a "no calls" warning).
One piece of information that would be helpful is knowing why they've decided not to call you - were you just late? Is there something wrong with the tape? etc. The only way to know that is if you know someone at the station in the right position. Be on the lookout for Ole Miss alums who might help in that regard.
In the same way, they could be very helpful about job openings at their own station. Ask around, if they have contact with an Ole Miss person in a market you are interested in. You could call that person and ask if they know of any openings - not just at their station but at others in the market. They often hear about what's going on at competitors. One of the things working against you is that stations don't wait until ads get out for them to be thinking about who might fill the position. By the time you hear about, employees may have already alerted friends, who send in their material first.
Likewise, applicants with a local address might help.. if it's just an entry level position and a station just wants to fill a hole quickly and not spend the time to bring in people from other places. But if you are local, it tells the station you are not already in the business (unless you are with a competitor). Most places want the reporters to have some experience, and not just be in town sitting around, and perhaps, just someone who's changing careers. I wonder if your friend was on air or not. It seems to me other positions in the media would be more likely to be filled by a local than on air talent.
Rather than worry about local addresses, I might focus on giving reasons in your cover letter, why you want to come to that market. That gives them an idea as to why you may stay for a while and implies they might not have to retrain someone else so quickly. While you very well might leave soon, you don't want to give them that idea. I emphasized to CNN my desire to move back to the South from DC, my friends in the community, etc. They love the idea of someone coming to lay down roots in the town where the station is located or at least hire someone who will stay long enough for them to get their money's worth. Often these jobs are revolving doors.
I've read that it is not unusual to take as much as six months to find a TV job that really fits- and that's with the person having some experience in local markets. For you, the problem isn't so much getting there as it is being able to last long enough for it to pop up. Right now, you just need something to "fill the gap".
Stephen Goforth
I would certainly keep checking all the sites on your list and jump on new additions immediately (which you probably are doing). After a little time has gone by, there's nothing wrong with resending your material to stations who have put out ads that you really fit with- or even calling them (provided there's not a "no calls" warning).
One piece of information that would be helpful is knowing why they've decided not to call you - were you just late? Is there something wrong with the tape? etc. The only way to know that is if you know someone at the station in the right position. Be on the lookout for Ole Miss alums who might help in that regard.
In the same way, they could be very helpful about job openings at their own station. Ask around, if they have contact with an Ole Miss person in a market you are interested in. You could call that person and ask if they know of any openings - not just at their station but at others in the market. They often hear about what's going on at competitors. One of the things working against you is that stations don't wait until ads get out for them to be thinking about who might fill the position. By the time you hear about, employees may have already alerted friends, who send in their material first.
Likewise, applicants with a local address might help.. if it's just an entry level position and a station just wants to fill a hole quickly and not spend the time to bring in people from other places. But if you are local, it tells the station you are not already in the business (unless you are with a competitor). Most places want the reporters to have some experience, and not just be in town sitting around, and perhaps, just someone who's changing careers. I wonder if your friend was on air or not. It seems to me other positions in the media would be more likely to be filled by a local than on air talent.
Rather than worry about local addresses, I might focus on giving reasons in your cover letter, why you want to come to that market. That gives them an idea as to why you may stay for a while and implies they might not have to retrain someone else so quickly. While you very well might leave soon, you don't want to give them that idea. I emphasized to CNN my desire to move back to the South from DC, my friends in the community, etc. They love the idea of someone coming to lay down roots in the town where the station is located or at least hire someone who will stay long enough for them to get their money's worth. Often these jobs are revolving doors.
I've read that it is not unusual to take as much as six months to find a TV job that really fits- and that's with the person having some experience in local markets. For you, the problem isn't so much getting there as it is being able to last long enough for it to pop up. Right now, you just need something to "fill the gap".
Stephen Goforth
Notes TV Resume Tapes
Explain what’s on the tape in the resume letter. For instance:
Put length of tape on letter and tape itself (make it between 5 and 10 minutes).
Lead with your best stuff (it’s a 30 second sale!).
Put a slate first with your name, address and phone number (you can repeat it at the end).
Don't:
..include color bars at beginning or show intros.
..show your colleagues, edit them out.
..use anything that you need to explain. “The reason the lighting is poor is..” “I would have shot it better if only..”
..lead with anchoring material. They will assume if you look decent reporting, you can work on the desk just fine.
REPORTER TAPE
1. Short clips of different kids of stand-ups (3 stand-ups, 2 demonstrations).
Use a prop: holding phone, gun, driving car.
Put your name in last stand up of the montage for reinforcement of your name.
Keep it to :30
2. Dip to black
3. Your Best package showing:
a. hard news
b. strong writing
c. nat sound full up
d. compelling video
e. succinct sound bites
4. Feature package
5. Anchoring excerpts
a.one minute of continuous reading
b.vosot intro
c.vo w/short video
ANCHOR TAPE
1. standing montage, :35-:45 warm greeting off top.
2. Two minutes of anchoring including your interaction with other anchors.
3. two or three packages. Show hard news and show you can do something when there’s nothing going on.
Look at some tapes on Talent Tapes and see how yours compares http://www.talentapes.com/
PRODUCER TAPE
Use packages (that you shot, wrote and edited) as examples of your producing strengths: no lengthy soundbites, effective pacing, natural sound full up to draw viewers into the story, etc.
Include a newscast you put together and line produced.
Include a rundown that shows your ability to stack a show.
"On the enclosed resume tape you will find a brief montage of standups to let you see and hear some of my on-camera performance abilities. The montage is followed by two stories which I wrote, produced and edited. The first is a hard news package and the second is a features story."Do:
Put length of tape on letter and tape itself (make it between 5 and 10 minutes).
Lead with your best stuff (it’s a 30 second sale!).
Put a slate first with your name, address and phone number (you can repeat it at the end).
Don't:
..include color bars at beginning or show intros.
..show your colleagues, edit them out.
..use anything that you need to explain. “The reason the lighting is poor is..” “I would have shot it better if only..”
..lead with anchoring material. They will assume if you look decent reporting, you can work on the desk just fine.
REPORTER TAPE
1. Short clips of different kids of stand-ups (3 stand-ups, 2 demonstrations).
Use a prop: holding phone, gun, driving car.
Put your name in last stand up of the montage for reinforcement of your name.
Keep it to :30
2. Dip to black
3. Your Best package showing:
a. hard news
b. strong writing
c. nat sound full up
d. compelling video
e. succinct sound bites
4. Feature package
5. Anchoring excerpts
a.one minute of continuous reading
b.vosot intro
c.vo w/short video
ANCHOR TAPE
1. standing montage, :35-:45 warm greeting off top.
2. Two minutes of anchoring including your interaction with other anchors.
3. two or three packages. Show hard news and show you can do something when there’s nothing going on.
Look at some tapes on Talent Tapes and see how yours compares http://www.talentapes.com/
PRODUCER TAPE
Use packages (that you shot, wrote and edited) as examples of your producing strengths: no lengthy soundbites, effective pacing, natural sound full up to draw viewers into the story, etc.
Include a newscast you put together and line produced.
Include a rundown that shows your ability to stack a show.
What TV News Broadcasters Want
Here are some points of interest from a survey that our own Debora Wenger was involved in producing. Some drawbacks- this survey only covered some large employers and no radio outlets. The landscape is likely to have changed since last year. But the information is still of interest.
==
What TV News Broadcasters want from new Employees
From a study of 2008 TV job postings based by Debora Wenger, Lynn C. Owens, Michael Charbonneau, Kristine Trever
Reporter job postings most requested previous professional experience (88.5%), strong writing (86.9%), enterprising (60.7%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (45.9%) and willingness to work long hours (37.7%).
Web writer/multimedia producer job postings most requested Web/multimedia skills (91.1%), previous professional experience (82.2%), strong writing (68.9%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (62.2%) and team player (60%).
Assignment editor job postings most requested previous professional experience (88.6%), communication skills (62.9%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (62.9%), news judgment (57.1%) and enterprising skills (45.7%).
Editor job postings most requested non-linear editing skills (95.8%), previous professional experience (75%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (75%), willingness to work long hours (54.2%) and team player (29.2%).
Anchor job postings most requested previous professional experience (85.7%), strong writing (66.7%), enterprising (28.6%), storytelling (28.6%) and Web/multimedia skills (28.6%).
Production assistant job postings most requested production skills (71.4%), willingness to work long hours (61.9%), previous professional experience (61.9%), team player (23.8%) and communication skills (19%).
Director job postings most requested previous professional experience (78.9%), production/field production skills (78.9%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (73.7%), willingness to work long hours (36.8%) and leadership (31.6%).
Writer job postings most requested previous professional experience (76.5%), strong writing (76.5%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (47.1%), willingness to work long hours (35.3%), communication skills (35.3%) and news judgment (35.3%).
News director/management job postings most requested previous professional experience (81.2%), leadership (75%), communication skills (43.8%), news judgment (37.5%) and Web/multimedia skills (31.2%).
Finally, entry level/internship job postings most requested communication skills (45.5%), willingness to work long hours (27.3%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (18.2%), strong writing (18.2%) and multitasking (18.2%).
Multimedia tasks, such as writing for the station’s Website or posting content online, were mentioned in 23% of the job postings examined.
Web/multimedia skills were required most often in broadcast job postings for Web writers/multimedia producers (91.1%), followed by news directors/management (31.2%), anchors (28.6%), assignment editors (25.7%), reporters (23%), producers (21.2%), executive producers (18.9%), production assistants (9.5%), entry level/internships (9.1%), editors (8.3%), photographers (6.2%) and writers (5.9%). No job postings for directors required Web/multimedia skills.
Conclusions
More traditional journalism skills are still in demand.
Previous professional experience was the top requirement.
Strong writing and working under pressure/tight deadlines were also top requirements for both newspaper and broadcast positions.
Advisers would do well to encourage students to get as much “real world” experience as possible through internships and working for campus media.
Overall, broadcast positions seem to de-emphasize multimedia in favor of more traditional skills and attributes.
Require communications skills and a willingness to work long hours under tight deadlines.
The relative lack of emphasis placed on writing, software and Web/multimedia skills may be attributed to the type of positions included in this category.
==
What TV News Broadcasters want from new Employees
From a study of 2008 TV job postings based by Debora Wenger, Lynn C. Owens, Michael Charbonneau, Kristine Trever
Reporter job postings most requested previous professional experience (88.5%), strong writing (86.9%), enterprising (60.7%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (45.9%) and willingness to work long hours (37.7%).
Web writer/multimedia producer job postings most requested Web/multimedia skills (91.1%), previous professional experience (82.2%), strong writing (68.9%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (62.2%) and team player (60%).
Assignment editor job postings most requested previous professional experience (88.6%), communication skills (62.9%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (62.9%), news judgment (57.1%) and enterprising skills (45.7%).
Editor job postings most requested non-linear editing skills (95.8%), previous professional experience (75%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (75%), willingness to work long hours (54.2%) and team player (29.2%).
Anchor job postings most requested previous professional experience (85.7%), strong writing (66.7%), enterprising (28.6%), storytelling (28.6%) and Web/multimedia skills (28.6%).
Production assistant job postings most requested production skills (71.4%), willingness to work long hours (61.9%), previous professional experience (61.9%), team player (23.8%) and communication skills (19%).
Director job postings most requested previous professional experience (78.9%), production/field production skills (78.9%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (73.7%), willingness to work long hours (36.8%) and leadership (31.6%).
Writer job postings most requested previous professional experience (76.5%), strong writing (76.5%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (47.1%), willingness to work long hours (35.3%), communication skills (35.3%) and news judgment (35.3%).
News director/management job postings most requested previous professional experience (81.2%), leadership (75%), communication skills (43.8%), news judgment (37.5%) and Web/multimedia skills (31.2%).
Finally, entry level/internship job postings most requested communication skills (45.5%), willingness to work long hours (27.3%), willingness to work under pressure/tight deadlines (18.2%), strong writing (18.2%) and multitasking (18.2%).
Multimedia tasks, such as writing for the station’s Website or posting content online, were mentioned in 23% of the job postings examined.
Web/multimedia skills were required most often in broadcast job postings for Web writers/multimedia producers (91.1%), followed by news directors/management (31.2%), anchors (28.6%), assignment editors (25.7%), reporters (23%), producers (21.2%), executive producers (18.9%), production assistants (9.5%), entry level/internships (9.1%), editors (8.3%), photographers (6.2%) and writers (5.9%). No job postings for directors required Web/multimedia skills.
Conclusions
More traditional journalism skills are still in demand.
Previous professional experience was the top requirement.
Strong writing and working under pressure/tight deadlines were also top requirements for both newspaper and broadcast positions.
Advisers would do well to encourage students to get as much “real world” experience as possible through internships and working for campus media.
Overall, broadcast positions seem to de-emphasize multimedia in favor of more traditional skills and attributes.
Require communications skills and a willingness to work long hours under tight deadlines.
The relative lack of emphasis placed on writing, software and Web/multimedia skills may be attributed to the type of positions included in this category.
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