Perhaps not surprisingly, publishers and CEOs express highest confidence in their own administrative positions. Among these, the finance department stands out. If the marketing function is so highly valued, and marketing personnel so low rated, one might expect top executives to push professional development for marketing staff to the top of their list of priorities. This is not the case. Rather, advertising, circulation, and editorial rank first when publishers and CEOs name the three departments most in need of training.
Marketing ranks fourth, ahead of pre-press, information services, and other departments.
Significantly, finance ranks low. For each department, publishers and CEOs identify at least one of these two major areas as deserving of specialized training. In advertising and circulation, marketing training takes precedence over skill-based training. Even in the finance department, training is in economic forecasting and market analysis is widely sought. The point to notice is the demand for marketing training within several newspaper departments, not just for the marketing department.