Are journalism jobs increasing or decreasing?
With the doom and gloom storm clouds gathering, we’ve seen news article after article about layoffs in major newspaper companies. But we also see little trickles of information that local newspapers are doing well–actually increasing in ad sales.
So it has been interesting to see the debate as to how the journalism job market is doing. Mediashift has an in-depth discussion on the topic, followed by a rebuttal by Rough Type, followed by a counter-rebuttal from Mediashift.
Verdict? Journalism jobs are decreasing, but at a slower rate than perhaps we originally thought.
What the articles fail to point out is the increase in full-time bloggers. I would say that there are now more than 1,000 bloggers out there who make a full-time living–whether it’s through adsense or some other form of online advertising. If you combine this with the new digital jobs at more traditional forms of media, then perhaps you’ll see an even more healthy job market.
Interestingly, the paper I work at has a hiring freeze on despite enormous profits and stressed journalists. The point, I suppose is to save money and thus, remain or continue to be profitable. And it’s working. But it won’t last forever.