Mass Communication Research Spring 2009 APA Survey "What Do You Think Journalism Graduates Know?"

Hello,
You have been selected to participate in a survey sponsored by the Arkansas Press Association. Your e-mail was gathered from the APA’s mailing list or media directory, or from your college or university Web site. We are only using your e-mail to contact you and to make sure we don’t have duplicate surveys from the same e-mail address while allowing multiple responses from the same IP address. We have not identified you in any other way, and e-mail addresses will not be included in any analysis. The survey does not use cookies.

If you are not involved in the education or hiring/firing of individuals entering the news-gathering/distribution business, please forward this to that person. Only one response will be accepted per e-mail address.

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Thank you for your participation.  

1. What is your job title? [JOB]

A. Publisher
B. Editor
C. Managing Editor
D. Section Editor
E. News Director
F. Professor
G. Associate Professor
H. Assistant Professor
I. Instructor
J. Other

2. How many years of experience do you have? [EXP]

A. Less than one year
B. One to two years
C. Three to five years
D. Six to 10 years
E. 10 to 15 years
F. More than 15 years

3. On a scale of one to 10, where one indicates "not important at all" and 10 indicates "very important," please rate the following classes by importance to a journalism graduate:

A. Introduction to Mass Communication [MCOM]
B. Introduction to Journalism [JOUR]
C. News Reporting [NRPT]
D. Public Affairs Reporting [PARP]
E. Feature Writing/Magazine Article Writing [FETR]
F. Media Technology [TECH]
G. Photojournalism [FOTO]
H. Editing [EDTN]
I. Journalism Ethics [ETHX]
J. Journalism Law [JLAW]
K. Journalism History [JHIS]
L. Introduction to Digital Publishing [DPUB]
M. Literary Journalism [JLIT]
N. Advertising [ADVR]
O. Public Relations [PREL]
P. Yearbook [YRBK]
Q. Internships [NTRN]

4. On a scale of one to 10, where one indicates "not important at all" and 10 indicates "extremely important," please rate the following according to the importance for a graduate interviewing for the workforce:

A. Portfolio, Clip book [PORT]
B. Experience on student publication staff [STPB]
C. Experience on non-student publication staff, e.g. internships [NSPB]
D. University attended [ALMA]
E. Grade point average [GPAV]
F. Exposure to multi-cultural environment [MLTI]
G. Time management skills [TIME]
H. Knowledge of multiple languages [LANG]
I. Knowledge of politicians that publications cover [LPOL]
J. Knowledge of national figures [NPOL]
K. Knowledge of current news events [CURR]

The last three questions use the same response options but explore subtle differences in the growth of the career of a graduating journalist:

• training prior to hiring
• additional training once hired
• quality of training for recent hires

5. On a scale of one to 10, where one indicates "not important at all" and 10 indicates "extremely important," please rate the importance of the following for a journalism graduate entering the workforce:

A. Professionalism, i.e. courteous, punctual, meets deadlines [GPRO]
B. Basic interviewing skills, e.g. note-taking, listening [GINT]
C. News writing skills, e.g. lead writing, inverted pyramid style, proper sourcing and use of quotes, story development [GNRT]
D. Ability to cover array of stories, e.g. meetings, public safety, business, arts and entertainment, features, sports [GARY]
E. Knowledge of writing software, e.g. Microsoft Word [GWRD]
F. Knowledge of AP Style [GAPS]
G. Photography skills [GFTO]
H. Digital photo manipulation, e.g. Adobe Photoshop [GPSH]
I. Video skills [GVID]
J. Video editing skills [GVED]
K. Knowledge of design software, e.g. Quark, Adobe InDesign [GQID]
L. Basic Internet skills, e.g. posting stories and photos to the Web [GNET]
M. Advanced Internet skills, e.g. knowledge of html, editing for Web [GHTM]
N. Knowledge of convergence to different media formats [GCON]
O. Journalism theory [GTHO]
P. Practical experience [GEXP]
Q. Knowledge of journalism ethics [GETX]
R. Knowledge of journalism law [GLAW]

6. On a scale of one to 10, where one indicates "none" and 10 indicates "a lot," please rate how much additional training a graduate should expect to receive upon hire:

A. Professionalism, i.e. courteous, punctual, meets deadlines [HPRO]
B. Basic interviewing skills, e.g. note-taking, listening [HINT]
C. News writing skills, e.g. lead writing, inverted pyramid style, proper sourcing and use of quotes, story development [HNRT]
D. Ability to cover array of stories, e.g. meetings, public safety, business, arts and entertainment, features, sports [HARY]
E. Knowledge of writing software, e.g. Microsoft Word [HWRD]
F. Knowledge of AP Style [HAPS]
G. Photography skills [HFTO]
H. Digital photo manipulation, e.g. Adobe Photoshop [HPSH]
I. Video skills [HVID]
J. Video editing skills [HVED]
K. Knowledge of design software, e.g. Quark, Adobe InDesign [HQID]
L. Basic Internet skills, e.g. posting stories and photos to the Web [HNET]
M. Advanced Internet skills, e.g. knowledge of html, editing for Web [HHTM]
N. Knowledge of convergence to different media formats [HCON]
O. Journalism theory [HTHO]
P. Practical experience [HEXP]
Q. Knowledge of journalism ethics [HETX]
R. Knowledge of journalism law [HLAW]

7. On a scale of one to 10, where one indicates “weakness” and 10 indicates “strength,” please rate the following strengths and weaknesses of journalism graduates hired within the last two years:

A. Professionalism, i.e. courteous, punctual, meets deadlines [RPRO]
B. Basic interviewing skills, e.g. note-taking, listening [RINT]
C. News writing skills, e.g. lead writing, inverted pyramid style, proper sourcing and use of quotes, story development [RNRT]
D. Ability to cover array of stories, e.g. meetings, public safety, business, arts and entertainment, features, sports [RARY]
E. Knowledge of writing software, e.g. Microsoft Word [RWRD]
F. Knowledge of AP Style [RAPS]
G. Photography skills [RFTO]
H. Digital photo manipulation, e.g. Adobe Photoshop [RPSH]
I. Video skills [RVID]
J. Video editing skills [RVED]
K. Knowledge of design software, e.g. Quark, Adobe InDesign [RQID]
L. Basic Internet skills, e.g. posting stories and photos to the Web [RNET]
M. Advanced Internet skills, e.g. knowledge of html, editing for Web [RHTM]
N. Knowledge of convergence to different media formats [RCON]
O. Journalism theory [RTHO]
P. Practical experience [REXP]
Q. Knowledge of journalism ethics [RETX]
R. Knowledge of journalism law [RLAW]

Thank you for your time. If you would prefer, send additional comments to sitton@uamont.edu. Information from this survey will be used in a presentation to the Arkansas Press Association during its annual conference in July.

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