Newsroom Employment Drops to Lowest Level Since 1978 — But Online Jobs Up
By Jennifer Saba
NEW YORK Newsroom employment at newspapers has plunged 11.3% in 2008, with the industry losing some 5,900 jobs, according to the American Society of News Editors (ASNE). It’s the biggest drop the organization has recorded since it first started conducting its newsroom employment survey in 1978.
The number of jobs losses more than doubled in 2008 compared with 2007 when the industry shed 2,400 jobs.
The number of newsroom jobs is now at a level last seen during the early 1980s.
However, other findings from the survey include a 21% rise year-over-year in online-only journalists to 2,300, of which 19.6% were minorities.
“The loss of journalists is a loss for democracy,” Charlotte Hall, president of ANSE and editor of the Orlando Sentinel, said in a statement.
For the 2009 census, 931 dailies out of 1,405 responded to the survey.
The survey revealed that the number of minorities employed in newsrooms is stagnant and that minorities represent 13.4% of the 46,700 positions.
ASNE said there has been a net increase in Latino, Asian and Native American journalists in this decade but that African American journalists are on the decline.
“The loss of people of color from our newsrooms is especially disturbing because our future depends on our ability to serve multicultural audiences,” Hall said in a statement. “ASNE is committed to keeping newsroom diversity on the front burner even in tough times.”
Women account for 37% of all full-time newsroom jobs.
Minorities represented 16% of journalists hired for their first full-time job, down from 17.6% in 2007.
The number of minority supervisors remained unchanged in 2008; they represent 11.2% of all newsroom supervisors.
More than 450 newspapers reported no minorities on their full-time staff — the majority of these dailies have circulations of 10,000 or less.
Jennifer Saba (jsaba@editorandpublisher.com) is E&P’s associate editor.
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