More than eight out of ten senior editors worldwide expect to see fully-integrated newsrooms throughout the industry in the near future and that their staff will soon possess all the skills they need for all platforms.

The vast majority of newspaper editors worldwide are optimistic about the future of their newspapers but they no longer think of them as print-only.

Eighty-six per cent believe integrated print and online newsrooms will become the norm and 83 per cent believe journalists will be expected to be able to produce content for all media within five years.

News chiefs remain optimistic about sweeping changes in the newsroom, having clearly accepted the multimedia revolution, according to the second annual Newsroom Barometer survey by the World Editors' Forum.

And two thirds believe some editorial functions will be outsourced, despite frequent newsroom opposition to the practice.

Some 85 per cent of editors are very optimistic or somewhat optimistic about the future of their newspapers, the same percentage as last year.

The survey of 704 senior editors from around the world was conducted in March. Their top priorities included training and recruitment.

Thirty-five per cent said training journalists in new media was the number one priority for investing in editorial quality.

Recruiting more journalists was cited by 31 per cent, up from 22 per cent last year.

World Editors Forum director Bertrand Pecquerie said: "The survey shows that editors-in-chief are already multimedia minded and that they have the capacity to carry out the transition from print-only to print and online."

Monique Villa, managing director of survey partner Reuters Media, said: "The 2008 Newsroom Barometer survey demonstrates continued optimism for the future of the newspaper industry, with editors ready to face the huge complexities of embracing a multimedia world."

Other findings include:

The results of the Newsroom Barometer survey were released at a news conference at Reuters headquarters in London and the full findings can be found at editorsweblog.org.

The Paris-based World Editors Forum is the organisation of the World Association of Newspapers that represents editors-in-chief and other senior news executives. WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspapers and newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and ten regional and world-wide press groups.