INDIANAPOLIS — Journalism students with a variety of skills to report the news not only on the printed page but also in multimedia formats will be in the strongest position to get their start in a changing newspaper industry, publishers and editors say.

“The world will always need people to gather and write the news,” said Alan D. Miller, managing editor for news at The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch. “The good news for college students and recent graduates is that they have grown up with computers and the Internet. Newsrooms need what they know — and all the new possibilities they can imagine for new and different ways to gather and deliver the news.”

Miller was among 86 editors and publishers from newspapers in five Midwestern states who shared their views on skills students entering the profession need today. They responded to a survey in advance of a journalism job fair Saturday at Franklin College, 20 miles south of Indianapolis.

The event, sponsored by the Indiana Associated Press Managing Editors and the Hoosier State Press Association Foundation, attracts students largely from Indiana but also from surrounding states Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Kentucky.

Nearly an equal number of the managers said they need recent graduates who have skills to tell stories in multiple formats (45), such as video and audio, and show command of the written language (40), including writing on deadline and in short bursts for the Web. Other responses touched on similar themes of versatility: demonstrating ability to cover any type of news and being willing to take on new assignments in their work as the news industry changes.

Students should prepare for a career in journalism to work in a variety of communication forms, not just the printed page, 25 of the participants said.

Hundreds of newsroom employees have been laid off in recent months as the economy worsens and the industry struggles with declining circulation and advertising revenue. And as readers shift more to getting news on the Internet, newspaper executives are trying to find ways to attract readers and advertising dollars to their Web sites.

“The current economic environment will pass and jobs will continue to be available at well-managed media companies,” said Mizell Stewart III, editor of the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press. “Interestingly, local media organizations will merge and combine in new ways, so students with a passion for telling stories in various forms will always be in demand.”

Seventy-one of the publishers and editors recommended that students work as a freelancer, mostly to get experience they might need to prove themselves for a full-time job.

“All experience is good, whether it be internship or freelance experience,” said Jane Hirt, managing editor of the Chicago Tribune. “Freelance experience doesn’t always lead to a full-time job, but sometimes it does. And many people are able to make a living as freelancers.”

Twenty-seven cited another reason why students might consider freelancing: They don’t expect to hire anyone in the next year, and some might even decrease the size of their staffs.

Freelancers can be more affordable for newspapers because they are not employees and therefore do not receive a salary and benefits, such as medical insurance. They are independent contractors paid per story.

All but four of the respondents offered encouragement to students considering a career in journalism in the face of dwindling newsroom staffs. Twenty-nine said the skills of a journalist always will be in demand regardless of format, and 27 said the work is important and can make a difference, such as by exposing corruption and ensuring justice.

Students need to be passionate about journalism, said Diane Pacetti, managing editor of The Lima News in Ohio.

“If you are, then forge ahead,” she said. “Get the experience you need, pound on doors, demonstrate your versatility and you’ll get a job. But if you are not really sold on journalism, go sell shoes.”