Paper presented by Ying Du and Ryan Thornburg at 2010 AEJMC conference in Denver. This study attempts to examine the discordance between education and practice by comparing online journalism professionals and educators’ perceptions of key skills, concepts, and duties for online journalism. Findings of the twin surveys suggest that differences do exist in the online context.

1. THE GAP BETWEEN
ONLINE JOURNALISM EDUCATION AND PRACTICE:
The Twin Surveys
Ying Roselyn Du
Assistant Professor
School of Communication
Hong Kong Baptist University
Ryan Thornburg
Assistant Professor
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

2. Introduction
• Gap b/t newsroom and classroom
– Journalism faculty: antipathy with
working press
– Journalists: do not like what’s taught
in J‐schools; do not trust who teach
it
• Online journalism emerged 1990s
– Gap in new context
– This study: compares OJ
professionals and educators’
perceptions
• Skills
• Concepts
• Duties

3. Literature Review
• Debates: what is needed in newsrooms vs what
should be taught in classrooms
• From professional point of view
– Media professionals dissatisfied with basic writing skills
of new graduates (Cowdin, 1985; Mabrey, 1988; Fedler,
1993
– Professional organizations and projects studies
• Industry professionals and leaders not enthusiastic about
performance of JMC education
• 4% of editors gave journalism school “A” grade
• Half editors did not care whether new hires had a j‐degree

4. Literature Review (cont.)
• Debates: what is needed in
newsrooms vs what should be
taught in classrooms
• From journalism educator’s point of
view
– Some educators: separation defensible
• Journalism education has a greater
purpose
– Some others: joined professionals in
criticizing J‐education
• Distancing itself from the real world of
industry

5. Literature Review (cont.)
• Debates: what is needed in newsrooms vs what
should be taught in classrooms
• Comparing both camps
– Studies on newspaper, broadcast, magazine
journalism
• Significant differences b/t opinions of educators and
professionals
– Educators: media history, media ethics, communication
concepts, media law are priorities
– Professionals: conceptual courses do little to prepare
students for newsroom practice
– Professionals: skills more valuable
• More dialog is needed b/t academy and the profession

6. Literature Review (cont.)
• In the trend towards convergence
– Industry undergoes revolutionary changes
– Skills media professionals need to survive
and succeed shifted with evolution of
technologies
• J‐schools moving in the same
direction?
• Skills and concepts taught catching
up with (or leading) demands of
industry?

7. RQs and Hypothesis
• RQ1: What skills are most needed
for online journalism?
• RQ2: What duties are most
common in online journalism?
• RQ3: What concepts are most
valued for online journalism?
• H1: There are differences in the
perceptions of online journalism
instructors and online journalists
regarding skills, duties, and
concepts for online journalism.

8. Method
• Sampling and procedures
– “twin surveys,” nationwide
• Instructors: ONA academic members
– 101/180 = 56%
• Journalists: multi‐stage procedure sample
– 10% random sample of ABC listed daily newspapers (1,412 in
2009), stratified
– Visit sampled dailies’ websites, identify online journalists:
“online” “interactive” “multimedia” “new media” “blogger”
“producer” “developer”
– Telephone to papers whose website does not list online
journalists
– 49/151 = 32%

9. Method (cont.)
• Variables and data collection
– Questionnaires based on N.C. pilot study 2008
– 2009, Qualtrics online survey program
– Variables, four parts
• Perceptions of skills (18 questions)
• Common duties (24)
• Journalism concepts (10)
• Demographic/profile
– Measures
• 5‐point Likert scale
• Rank ordering
• Categorical
– T‐tests for difference

10. Results
Table 1 Profile of Respondents1
Instructors Journalists
Gender Male 56% 68%
Female 44% 32%
Age 30- 5% 29%
(in year) 31-59 79% 71%
60+ 16% 0%
Race White 89% 92%
Black 4% 0%
Other 7% 9%
Education (12-) High School or less 0% 0%
(in year) (13-15) Some College 3% 16%
(16) 4-yr College Graduate 6% 68%
(17+) Post-Graduate Work 91% 16%
Professional 0 8% 0%
Journalism 1-5 38% 33%
Experience 6-9 21% 14%
(in year)2 10+ 30% 55%
Academic Instructor 18%
Rank Assistant Prof. 28%
Associate Prof. 19% N/A
Prof. 14%
Other 21%
Job Title in Editor 54%
Newsroom Reporter N/A 5%
Producer 41%
1
Total of percentage not always equal to 100% due to rounding error;
2
For the instructor group, the questionnaire asked specifically for “online” journalism experience.

11. Results (cont.)
Table 2 Most Needed Skills
Instructors Mean Journalists Mean
Skills
N = 101 N = 49
1 Grammar and style 4.44 News Judgment 4.07
2 News Judgment 4.32 Grammar and style 4.02
Writing summary content for 4.14 My company’s content 4
3 the Web (blurbs, headlines, management system
captions, labels)
Web Usability 3.51 Writing summary content for 3.98
4 the Web (blurbs, headlines,
captions, labels)
Blogging tools (Wordpress, 3.51 Web Usability 3.93
5
etc.)
Audio reporting and/or 3.4 Photoshop 3.44
6
editing
Video reporting and/or 3.37 Blogging tools (Wordpress, 3.34
7
editing etc.)
My company’s content 3.15 Web layout and/or user 3.2
8
management system interface design
9 Soundslides 3.09 HTML 3.2
Search engine optimization 2.94 Video reporting and/or 3.17
10
editing
Survey question for instructors: “Please tell us the proficiency level you think your students should
have for each of these skills if they work for online newsrooms”
Survey Question for Journalists: “Please tell us the proficiency level you have for each of these skills.”
5-point forced choice scale: 1 = none, 2 = basic, 3 = intermediate, 4 = advance, 5 = expert

12. Results (cont.)
Table 3 Most Performed Duties
Instructors Mean Journalists Mean
Duties
N = 101 N = 49
Reporting and writing 2.32 Writing or editing scripts 3.33
1
original stories
Story 4.45 Project management 4
2
combining/shortening
3 Writing or editing scripts 5.04 Blogging 4.3
4 Multimedia authoring 5.13 Photo shooting 4.33
5 Editing text for content 5.15 User interface design 4.33
6 Writing headlines or blurbs 5.21 Video production 4.35
Managing user-generated 5.43 Staff 4.61
7
content organization/administration
Editing for grammar or 5.67 Story combining/shortening 4.71
8
style
Photo/image editing 5.67 Reporting and writing 4.86
9
original stories
10 Project management 5.7 Photo/image editing 4.95
Survey question for instructors: “Select and rank the top 10 duties you think your students will perform
the most often during the first year of their professional careers.”
Survey Question for Journalists: “Select and rank the top 10 duties you spent your work time on.”
10-point forced choice scale: 1 = most important, 2 = second most important…

13. Results (cont.)
Table 4 Most Valued Concepts
Instructors Mean Journalists Mean
Concepts
N = 101 N = 49
1 News judgment 2.92 Multitasking 4.14
Ability to work under 4.55 Ability to learn new 4.49
2
time pressure technologies
Team 4.7 Attention to detail 4.56
3
work/collaboration
Interpersonal 4.85 Ability to work under time 4.83
4
communication pressure
Ability to learn new 5.04 News judgment 5.15
5
technologies
6 Attention to detail 5.16 Team work/collaboration 5.15
7 Multitasking 5.49 Web usability 5.29
Awareness of new 5.92 Interpersonal communication 5.91
8
technologies
Web usability 7.25 Awareness of new 6.61
9
technologies
Online community 7.77 Online community 6.86
10
management management
Survey question for instructors: “Rank the concepts in the order in which you think they are important
to your students’ future job in online newsrooms.”
Survey Question for Journalists: “Rank the concepts in the order in which they are important to your
job.”
10-point forced choice scale: 1 = most important…10 = least important

14. Results (cont.)
Table 5 Comparison of Skill Level
Instructors Journalists
Skills Mean Mean t p
N = 101 N = 49
News Judgment 4.32 4.07 1.47 0.14
Web Usability 3.51 3.93 -2.31 0.02*
Dreamweaver 2.27 2.37 -0.48 0.63
Information graphics design 2.66 2.61 0.24 0.82
Web layout and/or user interface 2.82 3.20 -1.80 0.08
design
Flash 2.30 1.85 2.94 <0.01**
SQL 1.76 1.71 0.28 0.78
Search engine optimization 2.94 2.95 -0.08 0.94
Blogging tools (Wordpress, etc.) 3.51 3.34 0.842 0.40
Computer programming skills (e.g. 1.83 1.90 -0.43 0.67
PHP, JavaScript, Python, ASP, Ajax)
Grammar and style 4.44 4.02 2.95 <0.01**
Writing summary content for the 4.14 3.98 1.00 0.32
Web (blurbs, headlines, captions,
labels)
Audio reporting and/or editing 3.40 2.80 3.25 <0.01**
Video reporting and/or editing 3.37 3.17 1.17 0.25
HTML 2.66 3.20 -2.88 0.01**
Photoshop 2.91 3.44 -2.85 0.01**
Soundslides 3.09 2.65 1.86 0.07
My company’s content management 3.15 4.00 -4.14 <0.01**
system

15. Results (cont.)
Table 6 Comparison of Duties
Instructors Journalists
Duties Mean Mean t p
N = 101 N = 49
Reporting and writing original stories 2.32 4.86 -1.67 0.14
Multimedia authoring 5.13 6.14 -1.17 0.25
Staff organization/administration 9.00 4.61 5.78 <0.01**
Project management 5.70 4.00 1.99 0.05
Working on business issues 8.14 5.88 1.91 0.07
Analyzing site usage metrics 7.53 6.55 1.09 0.28
Database design/administration 7.00 5.15 1.44 0.17
Blogging 5.74 4.30 1.67 0.10
Email newsletter production 6.82 6.33 0.45 0.66
Writing or editing scripts 5.04 3.33 1.19 0.24
Editing text for content 5.15 5.32 -0.24 0.81
Managing user-generated content 5.43 5.78 -0.44 0.66
Editing for grammar or style 5.67 5.27 0.49 0.63
Writing headlines or blurbs 5.21 5.22 -0.01 0.99
Developing and managing 7.67 5.50 1.71 0.10
relationships with third-party content
providers
Training or teaching other staff 6.75 6.32 0.50 0.62
members in new skills or concepts
Story combining/shortening 4.45 4.71 -0.22 0.83
Photo/image editing 5.67 4.95 1.06 0.29
Photo shooting 5.91 4.33 1.00 0.32
Audio production 6.02 6.71 -0.82 0.42
Video production 5.74 4.35 2.18 0.03*
Information/graphic design 7.50 5.29 2.60 0.02*
User interface design 7.57 4.33 2.57 0.02*
Other duties 7.70 5.43 1.92 0.07

16. Results (cont.)
Table 7 Comparison of Concepts
Instructors Journalists
Concepts Mean Mean t p
N = 101 N = 49
Attention to detail 5.16 4.56 1.42 0.26
Online community management 7.77 6.86 1.52 0.14
Ability to work under time 4.55 4.83 -0.55 0.58
pressure
Interpersonal communication 4.85 5.91 -2.08 0.04*
Multitasking 5.49 4.14 2.37 0.02*
Team work/collaboration 4.70 5.15 -0.90 0.37
Ability to learn new technologies 5.04 4.49 1.07 0.29
Awareness of new technologies 5.92 6.61 -1.22 0.23
News judgment 2.92 5.15 -3.45 <0.01**
Web usability 7.25 5.29 3.57 <0.01**

17. Conclusions
• Offers updated insights into the much‐
debated gap b/w j‐education/practice
• First quantitative, empirical
exploration
• Finds sig. differences in online context
• Traditional backbone skills remain
important
• Methodological strength
– Solid, rich data
– Representative, meaning results
(Internet survey response rate 1%‐30%,
Wimmer & Dominick, 2005)

18. Thank you!
Questions?
Comments?