Seeking a career in journalism?

Seeking a career in journalism?

 

 

How about a one-word piece of advice: DON'T!

Today's blog is a departure from my usual tips about better writing and editing. I felt impressed to offer these thoughts, in no particular order, as a warning to anyone who still thinks it's a great major to pursue in college.

First, this excerpt from
http://front.kinja.com/journalism-is-the-worst-4-year-college-investment-be-a-512348579:

Journalism Is the Worst 4-Year College Investment — Be a Sailor Instead! 

If the constant downsizing in the news-media industry hasn't already convinced you to pick something else to do with your life, a new study (see http://www.bankrate.com/finance/college-finance/roi-college-degree.aspx) shows the worst "return on investment" for a four-year degree is a job in journalism. It takes journalists nearly 32 years to pay off their college loans.

With a median salary of only $37,090 and college costs of $52,596, it would take today's newly-degreed journalist 31.84 years to pay off a student loan at 5% interest, according to Bankrate.com. (see http://www.bankrate.com/finance/college-finance/roi-college-degree.aspx)

Add the insecurity and shame associated with the reporting life, and you've got a recipe for a life of intolerable misery and want. But it doesn't have to be that way. Journalism is dead, anyway—news is created by blogs and NSA leakers and press releases. Why not do something exciting and get rich in the process?

Forbes notes that the 25 colleges with the best return on investment includes a pair of state maritime schools.


Second, consider these subtle reminders of the current state of journalism, and we're not talking only about the print medium:

 

• The percentage of daily print newspaper readers in the U.S. has fallen nearly 20% since 2001, according to research firm Scarborough.

• The "PBS NewsHour," public television's   iconic nightly newscast, is planning its first major layoffs in nearly two decades. Because of sagging support from corporate sponsors, the show's producer, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, is closing the two offices it has outside of the nation's capital -- in Denver and San Francisco -- and will lay off most of the workers there.
• The Chicago Sun-Times recently got rid of its entire 28-person photo department -- at least as them being considered full-time employees eligible for benefits. Many were rehired as freelance photographers.
• Consider that the following cities/regions have seen a major daily newspaper go out of business in the past 25 years (and this is just a partial list): Dallas; Houston; San Antonio; El Paso, Texas; Laredo, Texas; Denver; Seattle; Baltimore; Cincinnati; Honolulu; northern Kentucky (The Kentucky Post); Albuquerque; San Juan; Idaho (The South Idaho Press); and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
• For a truly mammoth list of the U.S. newspapers that have gone out of business, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_newspapers_of_the_United_States
  (and even this list is not exhaustive, as it says, "Only notable names among the thousands of such newspapers are listed, primarily major metropolitan dailies which published for ten years or more.")
•  There's even a website devoted to tracking the demise of the newspaper industry, if you are brave enough to look: http://newspaperdeathwatch.com/.
•  The New York Post and New York Daily News have announced major layoffs in the past few weeks.
  
  
  I could point out a lot more than this, but I hope you get the general idea. If you aren't convinced, only five words are appropriate here:
  

  GOOD LUCK -- YOU'LL NEED IT!

  
  
  My next post will deal with homonyms. Stay tuned ...