A Competency Model for Human Resources in News Organizations: Case Study

Finding and recruiting competent personnel is a strategic issue in every organization, preferably in news organizations. This research is conducted to present the characteristics of a professional journalist and to design a competency model for human resources in news agencies. The research method in this project was grounded theory and 19 media experts and journalists comprised the statistical population, who were selected purposively for semi-structured interviews. Based on the findings, some of the most important characteristics of a qualified journalist are: interest in journalism, news intuition, high IQ, making oneself understood well, curiosity, creativity, sociability, good understanding, neatness, patience, politeness, courage, realistic view, zeal for continuous learning, writing skill, ability to work with modern communication technologies, command in one foreign language, and general knowledge. A model for human resource competency in news agencies is also presented.