Opinion: With shrinking newsrooms and last-minute shutdowns, the journalism industry is a fear-inspiring job market
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In December 2023, Eugene Weekly announced it would not be in print for a while due to an embezzlement of thousands of dollars of its funding. Less than a month after the Weekly’s announcement, the Los Angeles Times stated it would lay off around 115 people, which was 20% of its newsroom. Within the same couple of days, Sports Illustrated laid off most of its employees by letting go of over 100 of the publication’s workers.
The journalism industry is notorious for its fluctuating workforce and instability — to the extent that the most common reaction I get to my journalism major is a confused look followed by, “Really?”
It’s not just judgmental family friends who see this and worry. Journalism students, as well, fear the likelihood of finding a secure job after graduation. My peers and I share breaking news of layoffs and fret that we won’t have a career like the ones our professors love to tell stories about.
“When I was engaged in my studies, I worked regularly at radio stations,” Peter Laufer, a journalism professor at the University of Oregon, said. “When I got tired of a place, I quit, and I knew I could just go down the street to another radio station and get a job.”
Since the Federal Communications Commission handed control over to individual media organizations, industry stability has wavered more. The FCC’s deregulation contributed to journalism’s pre-existing flexibility and changed the industry’s financial model to be more prone to abrupt changes.
“The revenues and profits that used to be made are not made by many organizations now,” Damian Radcliffe, another UO journalism professor, said.
Financial models of newspapers tend to organize journalism around funding rather than prioritizing reporting. This change in the industry rippled out to how journalists begin their careers, according to Radcliffe.
“The career progression of starting small and working your way up, regionally and then nationally, has disappeared,” he said. “But in its place, you can go and work for nationals straight out of [journalism] school.”
Although national publications may be more accessible for young journalists, the structure of many large papers pose more ethical questions than reporters used to face. Some include the independence of a publication and if there becomes an allegiance or bias based on its owner and the loss of accessibility for the public due to paywalls.
The reliability of journalism as a career is a large question for student journalists, whose professors could comfortably rely on their publication’s salary. The decision to go into journalism weighs the financial and employment risks against the purpose of the job.
“Journalism has always been a vocational profession,” Radcliffe said. “People do it because they are passionate about telling stories, sharing information, holding public bodies accountable and providing useful, valuable material that communities can use. None of that has gone away.”
Despite the shifting models of newsrooms and a decreasing number of them, those entering the workforce have not lost their shot at a journalism career. Bagging a job requires professionalism, knowledge and, according to Laufer, being “stellar.”
“It creates opportunity if one does what so many are not doing,” Laufer said. To stand out among peers, he suggests hitting the ground running and researching. Remain tenacious and hungry for the work and you will not be without opportunities.
“There’s probably no better time to go into journalism,” Laufer said, referring to the innovation and success following the collapse of the traditional models.
Although this unique wave of journalism anxiety is troubling, there is hope.