This document summarizes research on journalists' multiskilling activities in the digital age. The study analyzed data from a Dutch Journalism Association membership database from 2006 and 2010 to identify changes in the types of media platforms journalists work for and the activities they perform. The findings show that journalists generally perform 3-4 activities, most commonly writing, editing, and reporting. While the overall number of activities has remained stable over four years, there have been changes within different media types, with multiskilling increasing most for online media but decreasing for traditional media. Certain activities like editing and reporting decreased across all media types, while writing and recording videos/photos increased for some media.

1. JOURNALISTS’ MULTISKILLING IN THE DIGITAL AGEMaurice VergeerRadboud University Nijmegenthe NetherlandsAlexander PleijterUniversity of Groningenthe NetherlandsLiesbeth HermansRadboud University Nijmegenthe Netherlands

2. Changes in the fieldDrastic changes in media industriesincreased media outputDigitizationthe InternetMergersFactors important for media industry changes:technological innovationseconomic pressuresProfessionalizationStriving for increased quality

3. From convergence to multi-skillingSingle mode news organizations transformed to multi-media organizationsConverged news organizations affects journalism practice (Avilés & Carvajal, 2008)Different and more skillsProduction for several platforms simultaneouslyProduction speed increases

4. EconomicnecessityDecliningnumber of newspapersubscriptions“News is for free”

5. Consequences for journalists’ daily activitiesMore production With less journalistsAt a much quicker rateJournalist transform from a specialist to generalist

6. Still…Empirical evidence is lackingLittle research on multi-skillingHardly any longitudinal research

7. Research QuestionsWhat type of activities do journalists carry out?To what degree have these activities increased or decreased over time, in general and specifically for different media types?

8. Data and measurements

9. DataDrawn from the membership database of the Dutch Journalism Association (NVJ).2006 (N=643) and 2010 (N=1016)identical measurement instruments in both years

10. Measurements activities and media platforms, a matrix with one dimension all types of media platforms listed and the other dimension the media activities listed.

11. Media platformsBroadcasting Public service broadcastingCommercial broadcastingRegional public service broadcastingLocal broadcasting

12. Media platformsNewspaperNational newspapersFree dailiesRegional newspapersNondaily newspapersFree door-to-door newspapers

13. Media platformsMagazinesNews magazinesSpecial interest magazinesProfessional magazinesCorporate magazinesMagazines for associationsThe WebJournalism websites and weblogs (unrelated to media that are traditionally offline)

14. Activitieswritingeditingreportingcoordinatephoto´s/videopresentingmaintain website

15. Findings

16. Most performed activities

18. Number of activities performed

20. What activities have in- or decreased by media type

29. Conclusion Journalists perform multiple activities.About three to four activitiesWriting, editing and reportingIn four years time there is been little change overallBut,Considerable changes within different media typesMulti-skilling is mostly performed on the web, but less in other mediaAnd even slightly decreasing for traditional media

30. Editing, presenting and reporting has decreased across media typesWriting and recording videos and photographing has increased for selected mediaMaintaining a website has increased across all media

31. Future researchWhat specific combinations of activities do journalists perform?To what extent is this related to personal and professional background (age, gender, professional education)?