From increased responsibilities to growing competition, the constantly evolving media landscape has created both challenges and opportunities for today's journalists, finds the first-ever PRWeek/PR Newswire Media Survey.
Seven years ago, Scott Hensley was a successful newspaper reporter. Working the healthcare beat for The Wall Street Journal, he focused on creating detailed reports for the print edition.
Today, Hensley is the editor of the Journal's Health Blog, a career move he says he couldn't have foreseen just a few years ago.
"I've become a blogger, and I didn't even know what that was a few years ago," he says. "The thing that has changed my life the most is blogging. I start at 7am every day, and it's a rare day when I'm out of [the office] before 5pm. We're a news-driven blog. We post eight to 10 times a day. We try to have three up by 9am; a half-dozen by noon.
"When I was writing for print," he adds, "I wasn't even thinking about what a possible story would be most days by 10am."
Hensley isn't alone. Many journalists are having to expand their skill set and add "blogger" to their resumes. Moreover, reporters at newspapers across the country are finding that they have to fill an online news hole, as well as the traditional ink-stained pages, according to the 2008 PRWeek/PR Newswire Media Survey.
Journalists across all mediums report that they are taking on more work. When asked what has affected their jobs the most over the past few years, 38.2% say they are expected to contribute more to their title's online version. Those extra inches of type, however, result in more opportunities for both journalists and PR pros because stories that don't make the newspaper or magazine can find a home on the Web, explains Dave Armon, COO of PR Newswire.
"[The survey shows] that reporters [are] obviously writing a lot more for online, as well as for the traditional outlets. For a PR person, it [is] very encouraging; the possible hole [for reporters] to fill is much larger now," he says. "So story ideas that don't make it into the [print] publication have a home not only on the online site, but possibly also on the reporter's own blog. And that just makes for a much more vibrant 24-hour news environment for anyone in media relations."
Of the 1,231 media members surveyed, 41.3% work for newspapers; 29.5% work for print magazines; 9.3% are in TV news; 8.2% work for online magazines and news Web sites; 6.4% are bloggers; and 5.4% are employed at radio stations. The majority (58.3%) of respondents work for outlets geared toward a consumer audience, while 26.7% work for trade outlets.
Greater workload
As newspapers and other traditional media outlets rush to upgrade Web sites and add multimedia tools, reporters and editors are working more hours, some on staffs whittled away by buyouts and layoffs. Of the survey's respondents, 57.3% report they are tasked with working more today than in the past few years, and 55.8% say they are contributing to other mediums outside of their official duty.
The prevalence of news Web sites is forcing journalists to work more - and faster - than in the past. The fervent pace kept by bloggers - both amateur and professional - means reporters who have been filing dispatches at the same pace for decades now must work at a speed once reserved for wire correspondents, notes James Pindell, managing editor of Politicker.com and a former newspaper reporter.
"I covered the New Hampshire primaries for The Boston Globe, and no one attended more events than I did. I [went to] between 350 and 500 campaign events in the past few years. The reason? Technology," he says. "If I know I'm writing about Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), I can go cover McCain. Then when I'm done reporting, and have time, I can go to a [former Sen.] John Edwards (D-NC) event a half-hour away, set up shop, write the story there, file it, and not lose any productive time because I had to go back to the office."
However, Internet-age reporting has its negatives, especially in terms of accuracy. Charles Kaiser, Radar columnist, remembers a time when newspaper reporters filed only a few stories per week. Now penning numerous stories or posts per day, reporters are also writing more corrections and updates, he explains.
While following up the widely discussed February New York Times story that cited aides concerned that a relationship between McCain and a lobbyist had grown romantic, Kaiser says Radar tried to leave former Republican Rep. Vin Weber ample time to respond to allegations that he was one of the Times' sources. The story soon needed to be updated, Kaiser explains.
"I told [a receptionist] that I had to post this [column] in 15 minutes. After a half hour, I hadn't heard from him [and posted the story]," he recalls. "After 50 minutes, he called back and said absolutely, positively the story was not true in any way. We got that up in 60 seconds. We wouldn't have gone with the original story if he had given us the denial when I had first called."