The journalism industry seems to be on the decline, and it is news to no one.
This week the Los Angeles Times laid off 20 percent of its newsroom, and questions about the lifespan of longstanding publications like the Times and how the type and quality of their reporting will change are at the forefront of students’ minds at Annenberg, USC’s school of journalism.
Recent mass layoffs at the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and Sports Illustrated have rattled the struggling field, leaving USC students majoring in journalism facing an uncertain future and some tough decisions.
Sports Illustrated, the pillar of sports journalism publications, announced plans to lay off the majority of its workforce earlier this week, an act widely regarded as the death of the publication according to Forbes. Pitchfork, the most popular music publication of the digital age, has been absorbed by GQ, a mens fashion magazine, with numerous staffers laid off according to The Guardian. CNN Business reported that Time Magazine also joined in the job slashing this week, laying off some 15 percent of its editorial staff.
Layoffs are nothing new for twenty-first century journalists, but the number of publications cutting positions is startling and, as the New York Times describes it, especially grim.
“These layoffs are very sad and at the same time worrying because we want to go into journalism as our profession and wonder if this trend is going to continue,” said Eric Yeh, a junior journalism major at USC.
Yeh’s sentiment is shared by many other USC journalism students who are witnessing the disappearance of jobs, internships and other opportunities in the industry.
“As someone who hopes to be on screen one day, I know a lot of big-time journalists start out at places like Sports Illustrated, writing articles and earning their stripes at these outlets,” said Anthony Bottino, a sophomore journalism major at USC. “With that opportunity being taken away from so many people, it makes me worried for the future because how am I going to be able to work my way up if there are really no opportunities anymore?”
With concern circulating among students, journalism professors at USC are focused on keeping students engaged and motivated.
“It’s hard to continue to inspire the next generation of journalists when they don’t see as much of a career pathway for themselves, and a lot of the organizations they aspire to work for are closing, cutting, etc.,” said Christina Bellantoni, a professor at Annenberg and director of the Annenberg Media Center.
But Bellantoni said she hopes the mass layoffs won’t deter students from pursuing a career in such an important field.
“One thing I found myself doing in the last 24 hours is encouraging students to think in an entrepreneurial way,” she said. “If these big media institutions are not going to be hiring, I don’t want students to just say journalism isn’t for me.”
Rebecca Haggerty, a professor of Professional Practice in the USC School of Journalism and Associate Director of the Undergraduate Journalism Program, said though the layoffs may be worrying, she believes this is far from the death of journalism.
“The industry is definitely going through a tough time, and there are challenges about revenue models but, at the same time, there are signs of hope in the industry,” Haggerty said.
For Haggerty, the current layoffs may simply represent a shift from old pillars of the industry like Times Magazine and Sports Illustrated, to younger publications that are learning to thrive in the digital age. “There are newer outlets that didn’t exist before that are covering a lot of news. I am not saying that everything is rosy, but the industry is changing, and still, they’re covering news.”
Journalism students may be worried after seeing the huge number of layoffs this week and thinking about how they will fit into the journalism industry, but many still have the confidence and passion to pursue a career.
“It definitely makes me nervous, but I am still going to pursue it,” Yeh said. “A lot of companies do layoffs sadly, but you just hope you’re on the right side of it.”