Some bad news thrown in with some good news from the recent release of the Cox Center 2006 Annual Survey Findings of Journalism and Mass Communication Graduates. I do like the fact that more journalists are working on the web. I don’t like the fact that they are not being compensated properly for it and their increased work hours may be related to working on the Web. Another finding was that just fewer than two in 10 report using the web for producing photos and graphics for the web and common activities included: using a still camera (15.4%), writing, reporting and editing for broadcast (14.5%), designing and creating computer graphics (8.9%), and a small percentage of the graduates produced content for mobile devices.

Compensation is also decreasing with the median salary for journalists working for the daily newspaper industry declining by nearly $1,000 compared with salaries earned by graduates with similar jobs a year earlier. It would be interesting to find out how people in the multimedia end of the media business are faring in terms of compensation. The study did note that salaries were above the overall median salary of $30,000 for graduates taking jobs with specialized information publishing and online publishing but didn’t specify the exact job position.

There was no mention of anyone using web video. However, “Nearly six in 10 of the graduates reported feeling they had the ability to write for the web, and about four in 10 said they had the ability to edit for the web, to use the web for reporting, and to use still photographs on the web. About three in 10 said they had the ability to do web layout and design, do graphics for the web, and use web software. Only one in 10 said they had the ability to do web animation. Of the graduates, 17.1% said they had none of these abilities on graduation,” according to the report.

According to Lee Becker, director of the Cox Center and professor of journalism in UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication:

“The percentage of 2006 journalism and mass communication bachelor’s degree recipients with at least one job offer on graduation was 76 percent, comparable to the figure of a year earlier. The percentage of master’s degree recipients with at least one job offer on graduation was 72 percent, also comparable to the previous year. At the same time, salaries for graduates with full-time jobs did increase and even managed to outpace inflation just slightly. Benefits, however, showed a marked decline. Only half of the journalism and mass communication bachelor’s degree recipients with a job in communication were working a 40-hour week. A quarter reported working between 41-50 hours per week. One trend in the work environment of the journalism and mass communication graduates seems quite distinct and likely to continue. Graduates find themselves in jobs where work involving the web is a quite prominent part of the routine. Graduates use the web to obtain materials for the various types of reports they produce. And they use the web to distribute the materials they produce. The field has become more web centered in recent years, and it will almost certainly become even more so in the future.”

Summary of 2006 Graduate Survey Results

• Only 3.1% of the journalism and mass communication graduates in 2006 had no job interviews as they entered the market.
• The percentage of 2006 journalism and mass communication bachelor’s degree recipients with at least one job offer on graduation was 76.2, comparable to the figure of a year earlier.
• On October 31, 2006, 63.7% of the journalism and mass communication bachelor’s degree recipients from the past spring held a full-time job, and 11.9% had a part-time job. These figures are statistically comparable with the figures from a year earlier.
• The percentage of master’s degree recipients with at least one job offer on graduation in 2006 was 72.2, statistically consistent with the estimate from a year earlier.
• On October 31 of 2006, 64.8% of the master’s degree recipients had a full-time job; that figure in 2005 was 65.7%.
• For the women, the market remained largely unchanged from a year earlier, while for men the market was weaker.
• The gap between the experiences of bachelor’s degree recipients who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups and those who are not also persisted in 2006. Students who are members of minority groups had a harder time finding a job.
• Four in 10 of the 2006 journalism and mass communication bachelor’s degree recipients with a job in communication reported that at least part of their assignment involved writing and editing for the web, an increase from 2005.
• The percentage of graduates reporting that they are designing and building web pages also increased in 2006.
• Only half of the journalism and mass communication bachelor’s degree recipients in 2006 with a job in communication were working a 40-hour week when they returned the survey instrument. A quarter were working between 41 and 50 hours.
• Median salaries for journalism and mass communication graduates, both at the bachelor’s and master’s degree level, increased by $1,000 in 2006 compared with a year earlier. The increase was just enough to keep up with inflation.