It’s not always easy writing these weekly posts. I try to deal with matters of consequence, and I usually choose issues that may be negative in nature. I also try to learn a little more about the topic by doing research and approaching the post in a thoughtful way. All of this means I have gone down several depressing rabbit holes while writing these pieces over the years.
Cumulatively, it takes a toll. Some weeks, it can only be described as downright depressing. And that’s just for myself, who only does these columns once a week. What if this were my full-time job? What if I were a journalist reporting on an ever-more-confounding world? How would I find the motivation to do my job every day?
The answer, at least according to a recent survey of 402 journalists by PR industry platform creator Muck Rake, is that I could be considering a different job. Last year, 56% of those journalists considered quitting.
The reasons are many. I and others have repeatedly talked the dismal state of journalism in North America. The advertising-based economic model that supports true reporting is falling apart. Publishers have found it’s more profitable to pander to prejudice and preconceived beliefs than to try to report the truth and hope to change people’s minds.
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When it comes to journalism, it appears that Colonel Nathan R. Jessup (from the movie “A Few Good Men”) may have been right: We can’t handle the truth. We prefer to be spoon-fed polarized punditry that aligns with our beliefs.
When profitability is based on the number of eyeballs gained, you get a lot more of them at a far lower cost by peddling opinion rather than proof. This has led to round after round of mass layoffs, cutting newsroom staffing by double digit percentages.
This reality brings a crushing load of economic pressure down on journalists. According to the Muck Rake survey, most journalist are battling burnout due to working longer hours with fewer resources. But it’s not just the economic restraints that are taking their toll on journalists. A good part of the problem is the evolving nature of how news develops and propagates through our society.
There used to be a 24-hour news cycle defined by a daily publication deadline, whether that was the printing of a newspaper or the broadcast of the nightly news. As tight as 24 hours was, it was downright leisurely compared to the split-second reality of today’s information environment. New stories develop, break and fade from significance in minutes now rather than days or weeks as was true in the past.
All of which means that a journalist who hopes to keep up has to be always on. There is no such thing as downtime or being “off the grid.” Even with new tools and platforms to help monitor and filter the tidal wave of signal vs. noise that is today’s information ecosystem, journalists must always be plugged in and logged on to do their job.
That's exhausting.
But perhaps the biggest reason why journalists are considering a career change is not the economic constraints nor the hours worked. It’s the nature of the job itself.
No one chooses to be a journalist because they want to get rich. It’s a career built on passion. Good journalists want to do something significant and make a difference. They do it because they value objectivity and truth and believe that by reporting it, they can raise the level of thought and discourse in our society. Given the apparent dumpster fire that seems to sum up the world today, can you blame them for becoming disillusioned with their chosen career?
This is tremendously sad -- and profoundly frightening. In a time when we need more reliably curated and reported information about the state of affairs than ever before, those we have always trusted to provide this are running -- in droves -- toward the nearest exit.