Why are Gen-Z journalists burning out?
LOW PAY, HIGH TURNOVER, CYNICISM WIDESPREAD STUDY FINDS
Amanda Siew presented her master's research findings at a conference on journalism and trauma in June. Photo: Desiree Hill
By Dave Seglins
At 21, fresh out of college, Amanda Siew began working as a news producer at a local TV station in Oklahoma CIty.
It was a fast-paced ‘trial by fire’ she says, that was both thrilling – but also a non-stop diet of covering disturbing, traumatic news.
“I started feeling the sense of dread going into work” she recalls. “You know, I just remember clocking a point in time where I was like, I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to be here. I hate my life.”
Siew soon discovered she was suffering from occupational burnout, something the World Health Organization defines as “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” marked by exhaustion, cynicism and reduced productivity.
She left her job in local TV. But still passionate about journalism, Siew enrolled in a master’s program at the University of Oklahoma to study the phenomenon of burnout among younger “Gen-Z” journalists.
She presented her findings to an international conference of the Journalism Education Trauma Research Group (JETREG) last June.
She interviewed 25 Gen-Z journalists (aged 18-27) working at local TV stations affiliated with ABC, CBS, FOX & NBC. These news professionals work in a wide range of roles, in a variety of market sizes, with work experience from between 10 months to seven years.
Siew says the findings should be a wake-up call to educators and local newsroom leaders:
23 of 25 reported suffering burnout in their early careers
job turnover was high
workload and low pay are breeding cynicism, disenchantment
more than half never had trauma/burnout training in j-school
Siew says Gen-Z has inherited an industry that today is now 24-hour news, driven by lightning fast social media, defined by multi platform journalism, pronounced distrust and hostility toward news media - which has all made it harder for younger journalists.
“The industry has changed a lot,” Siew said in an interview with Well-being In News. “The pay hasn't really kept up with the cost of living or inflation or what journalists now are doing as far as their workload goes,” said Siew.
“The bottom line here is just that, the journalists, their duties have changed. The environment has changed, and resources just haven't kept up with that.”
She flatly rejects the stereotype of Gen-Z as being ‘lazy’ or a ‘bunch of whiners.’
“That’s just a bunch of - pardon my french - BULL!” Siew says. “A big chunk of our lives have been marked by a lot of traumatic events, think 9/11, mass shootings, all these kind of big world kind of markers that really shaped who we are as a generation… And we're a resilient bunch.”
“I know, you know, it's like, ‘Oh, Gen Z doesn't want to work. They just keep hopping jobs and all that.’
“I think it's because we want to find a place that respects us and values who we are as people, so I think boundaries aren't a bad thing.”
Siew’s study makes a number of recommendations - including better education in colleges and j-schools about the professional mental health risks inherent in journalism.
But she also says newsrooms and traditional media companies need to address low pay and high burnout if they are going to remain attractive places to work.
“My plea, at least to managers, is to really be mindful and cognizant of what's causing burnout in your newsrooms and really be proactive and do something about it rather than go, ‘Oh yeah, this is something we've seen for years and years.’ Let's try to break that cycle.”
