Papper (2016a, 2016b) found that newsrooms in the United States are actively and strategically redefining the roles of reporters. More newsrooms want more content on the web, and in some cases they are forcing reporters to publish a minimum number of stories each day. The multimedia demands on journalists is creating an environment where reporters are finding new roles and professional opportunities that allow them to utilize their newly acquired skill-sets; these are often outside of a newsroom (Sánchez-García et al., 2015). Those who remain in newsrooms continue to inform through multiple platforms: television, social media, websites, apps, radio, print, etc.
Multi-media journalists’ responsibilities extend beyond television. Papper (2015) surveyed news directors across the country and found that more than 78% of television stations distribute news content to other media companies. While larger market stations enjoy the benefit of more work distribution among larger staffs, smaller television markets and their smaller staffs are learning to serve the multi-media demands of today. In markets 101+, the typical station has four or five MMJs, who were most likely college students previously (Papper, 2015). Sánchez-García et al., (2015) reviewed the sentiments and job functions of journalists in Spain and explored the changes in the profession brought on by the new media environment. The authors found that the media landscape is continuing to change and more duties involving online and multimedia content are being added to their responsibilities. How journalists perform their jobs is changing, but the core role of journalists to inform is steadfast. Their research revealed that a closed definition of the specific job functions of a journalist can never be absolute because the business is in a state of transition toward new digital business models (Sánchez-García et al., 2015). The authors noted that when Tobias Peucer published Relationes Novellae in 1690, journalists were not simply writers; instead, they were considered “historian-journalists.” Peucer explained that journalists embodied several “virtues” as they conducted their work; those virtues included, intelligence, judgment, respect, and pursuit of the truth (Atwood & de Beer, 2001). Those same characteristics continue to be among the ideals that serve as standards for reporters in contemporary times (“RTDNA Code of Ethics,” 2015, “SPJ Code of Ethics,” 2014; Tompkins, 2011).
Currently, new internet-based and digital technologies are disrupting what is now referred to as traditional media (television, radio, and newspapers) and how reporters perform their duties as newsgatherers. The expansion of digital publications has allowed new outlets for digital and original reporting (Mitchell & Holcomb, 2016). That expansion is fueled by increased demand for news content (Madison, 2014). Despite the new outlets, many media companies expect television reporters to multi-task to create new or additional reports to accommodate those expansions, instead of adding mirror positions for the new digital content distribution channels, according to a research interview conducted with a local television station general manager.
MMJs face multitasking on a daily basis. Wenger & Potter (2014) included an account from one MMJ who explained that she was responsible for a 90-second story, two 30-second versions of that story, a written web story, and was responsible for attaching video to that web story. Before the end of the day, an MMJ may need to make sure a story is published and updated on a TV station's website, make regular updates on several social media accounts, and prepare traditional broadcast reports for as many as five newscasts. The technological advances and audience expectations are what drive the ever-changing job descriptions of journalists (Wenger & Potter, 2014).
Zafra (2014) explained that television reporters are able to multi-task because of technological developments and the affordability of those new technologies. Such multi-tasking includes several technical jobs that have not traditionally been assigned to reporters, but with the refining of roles and titles, such as MMJ, television journalists have added those skills and responsibilities to their job function (Zafra, 2014).
Sources:
Atwood, R. A., & de Beer, A. S. (2001). The Roots of Academic News Research: Tobias Peucer’s “De relationibus novellis” (1690). Journalism Studies, 2(4), 485–496. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616700120086378
Madison, E. (2014). Training Digital Age Journalists Blurring the Distinction between Students and Professionals. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 69(3), 314–324. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077695814532926
Mitchell, A., & Holcomb, J. (2016, June 15). State of the News Media 2016. Retrieved from http://www.journalism.org/2016/06/15/state-of-the-news-media-2016/
Papper, R. A. (2015). Broadcast News and Writing Stylebook, 5th Edition (5th ed.). Focal Press. Retrieved from http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com.ezproxy.lib.apsu.edu/book/video/9781317349754
RTDNA Code of Ethics. (2015). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from http://rtdna.org/
Sánchez-García, P., Campos-Domínguez, E., & Gonzalo, S. (2015). The unalterable functions of journalists in view of the emerging multimedia job profiles. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social. Retrieved from http://www.revistalatinacs.org/070/paper/1042va/12en.html
SPJ Code of Ethics. (2014). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
Tompkins, A. (2011). Aim for the heart: Write, shoot, report and produce for TV and multimedia. SAGE.
Weaver, D. H., Beam, R. A., Brownlee, B. J., Voakes, P. S., & Wilhoit, G. C. (2009). The American Journalist in the 21st Century: U.S. News People at the Dawn of a New Millennium. Routledge.
Wenger, D. H., & Potter, D. (Eds.). (2014). Advancing the Story; Broadcast Journalism in a Multimedia World 3ed (3rd Updated ed. edition). Los Angeles: CQ Press.
Zafra, N. (2014). The digital reporter as a one-man-band: Disaster reporting in the age of backpack and multimedia journalism: A 60-credit Journalism Project presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Journalism at Massey University. The Author.
