Journalists worry about many things. Disinformation is first, followed by public trust and lack of funding. But they are in a better frame of mind than you might think, and most are moving
ahead with AI, judging by the State of Journalism 2025, according to a study by Muck Rack.
How do journalists view their work? They find it:
- Meaningful—67%
- Exhausting—47%
- Rewarding—43%
- Exciting—34%
- Precarious—33%
- Routine or repetitive—24%
- Isolating—18%
- Other—5%
Adding to the exhaustion is the fact that 62% have seen their job responsibilities expand in the past year,
27% significantly.
Despite reported layoffs and the constant stories on news deserts, 54% are confident in their long-term career prospects in journalism, 19% very much so. Another 19%
are neutral, and 27% are somewhat or very unconfident.
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Moreover, 57% are confident in the long-term stability of their organizations, 21% very much so. Only 11% are very concerned and
17% somewhat worried.
Of those polled, 37% say their newsroom had layoffs or voluntary buyouts in the past year, but the remainder did
not.
Let’s talk money. Most journalists earn from $40,000 to $70,000 a year, but 40% go above that. However, only 15% enter the six figures.
Here’s another clue as to how journalists are doing, but we’ll leave it to you to decide if it’s good news. Of the reporters polled, 77% are using AI tools,
including:
- ChatGPT—42%
- AI transcription tools (e.g. Otter.ai)—40%
- Grammarly—35%
- None of these options—23%
In contrast, social media has declined in importance over the past 12 months. Last year, 33%
of the respondents said social media was very important for producing their work. That has declined to 23% in this year’s survey. However, social is still deemed very important for promoting
their journalism.
Which social platforms are they using? They cite:
- Facebook—27%
- X (formerly
Twitter)—21%
- LinkedIn—18%
- Instagram—14%
- Bluesky—7%
- Reddit—3%
- YouTube—3%
- I do not use
any of these—3%
- TikTok—2%
- WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal—1%
X has declined in
popularity, with 21% saying it is their top platform, down from 36% last year to 21%. And 72% feel X is untrustworthy. LinkedIn is the most trusted platform for 60%.
Of course, being a company that specializes in PR, Muck Rack has to answer some questions about that field. Are you a PR person who wants to pitch a story? These are the signals that will get
journalists to respond:
- Clearly tailored to my beat—69%
- Offers access to a credible source—44%
- Includes new or exclusive information—41%
- Brief and clearly written—31%
- Connects to a timely
news event or trend—26%
- Includes relevant data or research—23%
- References my past
work—9%
Muck Rack surveyed 1,890 news producers from April 4-25, 2025. Of those, 1,515 were included in the final analysis.