How J-School Students See the Future

When it was released last fall, University of Georgia professor Lee Becker’s annual study of journalism graduates entering the job market contained some counterintuitive—if not downright surprising—news. Despite revenue and circulation problems, job cuts, and budget slashing in many newsrooms, 73% percent of 2005 print journalism graduates found full-time employment in their industry. That was the highest percentage in six years and a four-point increase over 2004.

Becker says those numbers make sense when you consider that most starting journalists are not looking for jobs at the big metro newspapers, the category that has been hit hardest by the industry’s financial ills. The more local and small-town newspapers, which have fared better, are offering recent grads their first jobs, he says.

That relatively rosy picture is, to a substantial degree, borne out by PEJ online interviews with 14 journalism and communication students from six schools.

Even as the students acknowledge that their chosen profession is in the throes of dramatic and uncertain change, they also project a pretty sturdy sense of optimism about their careers and the future of journalism. And despite the perception or theory that journalists are driven by a reformist desire to change the world, many of these students say they were motivated primarily by their love of writing. On the subject of journalism education, a majority of our sample say their hands-on experience at school papers or professional newsrooms was more beneficial than course work in preparing for a career.

To read more, visit http://www.journalism.org/node/5509.