Within the industry the outlook appears positive. But what about those still in college, with hopes of landing a job in newspaper journalism? They face a tough challenge if they do not embrace the Web.

"I am entering the market at a time when change is happening rapidly," said Alex Ralph, who is working on a MA in newspaper journalism at City University London. "I am at the forefront of change. I am not a 30 year-old hack burying my head in the sand and reluctant and ignorant of the changes."

To enter the industry with hopes of working on both the print and online product, you've got to have evidence of an interest in the digital world, said Neil McIntosh, editor of guardian.co.uk.

"What you do look for when recruting into digital is, well, a blog -- one that they do themselves, not one that they're required to do for their course," McIntosh said. "I won't say that all the staff that we've recruited have had blogs, but the ones that have had some Web presence, suddenly you can see that they are interested in digital because they've gone to the lengths of actually sorting themselves out with a digital presence."

Employers are not looking for a print journalist as distinct from a broadcast. They are looking for the complete hack.

Having that person's digital presence available online is helpful in determining whether someone is a right fit because the writing that appears there is not the product of intensive subediting. Rather it's the writer's distinct voice and style, McIntosh added.

It's that appearance of an interest in online journalism that separates out those who're more likely to get a consistent job from those likely to spend years subediting at small market newspapers.

"It is imperative that we at least appear to be embracing the internet," Ralph said. "Employers are not looking for a print journalist as distinct from a broadcast. They are looking for the complete hack. The all rounder. Or as the Guardian call it someone who can operate on the 'level-platform.'"

In this video Suzanne Levinson, director of site operations at The Miami Herald, speaks to an online journalism class at the University of Miami about what the most important thing is for an online journalist to know.

Part of the responsibility of ensuring students come out of journalism school with the necessary tools to succeed is for lecturers to instill a realistic outlook for their job prospects early on.

"The journalism lecturers I meet have a very realistic... very realistic views of what the job market is and where the students are going," McIntosh said. "I also did my degree in journalism and some of my classmates had very unrealistic ideas about where they were going to end up.

"Students still seem to have some curious notions about the business and working in newspapers. But I don't think there's any title here recruiting straight into just print," McIntosh said.