As if the newspaper business didn’t have enough trouble already, the position of “newspaper reporter” has been named the single worst job in the United States – again.
The extremely dubious honor was conferred on the beleaguered industry by CareerCast, which offers job listings in local and niche job markets. While it’s probably not much comfort, a
number of other traditional media careers are also in the doghouse.
According to CareerCast’s list of the 400 best and worst jobs, newspaper reporter came in at the very bottom with a
median salary of $37,200 for a print reporter, plus a negative growth outlook for the industry of -9%.
CareerCast summed up the bad news: “A gradual decline in print publications at the
turn of the century became a steep downturn for the past decade. Publications folding mean far fewer job prospects, and declining ad revenue means unfavorable pay for those in the Fourth
Estate.”
Newspaper reporter has been the worst job in America several years running now, clinching the top spot in 2015.
For comparison’s sake, per the same listing the
second worst job in the U.S. in 2016 is “logger,” followed by “broadcaster,” presumably referring to a local TV news anchor or reporter, and “disc jockey” –
all united by their low pay and dismal industry growth outlooks.
“Advertising salesperson” wasn’t far behind, with a median annual salary of $47,890 and stagnant growth
outlook.
Turning to happy and highly compensated careers, the best jobs are all about numbers. CareerCast’s list of the most desirable positions in 2015 was led by “actuary,”
“audiologist,” “mathematician,” “statistician,” “biomedical engineer” and “data scientist.”
No word yet on the fantastic prospects
of online media bloggers.