Five reasons people leave — or stay in —local journalism

LOW PAY, POOR ADVANCEMENT, LONG HOURS MAJOR FACTORS

Guest author Jessica Mahone is research director at the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media (CISLM), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Journalism has long been known as a demanding profession that pushes workers to perform at high levels in often challenging circumstances and for long hours. The past two decades have only compounded that pressure as deteriorating economic conditions have led to hosts of layoffs and consolidating of job duties with stagnant pay.

Local journalists enter the field motivated to serve communities and tell stories. But they struggle to forge a path for long-term career advancement, according to our survey of more than 600 current and former U.S. local journalists. This survey by the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media at the University of North Carolina asked why people enter, then stay in or leave local journalism.

Here are five top takeaways:

Long work hours: Journalists working 50 or more hours per week were more likely to leave while those working no more than 40 hours were more likely to stay in journalism.

“Being on call weeknights and rotating on call for weekends, expected to be ‘ready’ at any time even outside of your working hours makes working in news stressful” - survey respondent

Low pay: Although there were no statistically significant differences in salary between those who left journalism and those still working in the field, both groups of respondents say that low pay is a big reason journalists question staying in the field.

“At some point, I have to support myself,” -survey respondent

Opportunities for advancement: There are limited opportunities to advance in journalism, reflected in the narrow $25,000 salary gap between those with fewer than five years of experience in journalism and those with more than 20.

“At a certain point, I do need to support myself” - survey respondent

Union representation: Journalists working in a newsroom with a union are less likely to leave the field than those working in a newsroom without one.

“Being part of a union and also a shop steward has made me a better worker and manager” - survey respondent

Optimism about the future of journalism: Those who have stayed are more optimistic about the industry’s future than those who left. More than three-quarters of those working in local journalism say they expect to still be in the field in five years. One respondent said they would leave journalism if they “[l]ose my ability to read, think, type.”

The Stayers and Leavers Report: Analyzing Career Trajectories in Local Journalism is a project by Elizabeth Thompson, Local News Researcher and Clay Williams, Graduate Student Researcher at the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media (CISLM), Hussman School of Journalism and Media, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.