WESTFIELD– Westfield State University journalism students have a good chance of getting a job post-grad but it depends on how they approach their future now and where they are.
With the wide range of jobs under the topic of journalism, there are so many job opportunities.
“The earlier you start the better,” said Junior Delgado from the Career Center located on campus.
“Companies are starting to hire earlier and earlier. So to get your name out there now and get experience now is the best course of action,” Delgado explained.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, predicts that by 2034 jobs in journalism will go down by 4% nationwide. But when looking at Job Trends and Salaries, it is shown that it really depends on where you are.
Job trends for news analysts, reporters, and journalists for Massachusetts by 2034 will be going down by 12.88%. But when looking at Florida, by 2034 jobs are going up by 4.55%.
“As an aspiring journalist, these trends make me feel both realistic and motivated. I’m aware that the job market can be uneven, but I’m also excited by the places where journalism is growing and evolving,” said Sydney Wietech, a current journalism student at Westfield State University.
“More people are moving to the South,” Delgado said when explaining why all these trends are showing that jobs in journalism are going down in the North but going up in the South. Due to the cost of living being lower in the South more people are moving there.
In the South it is also very common to have ‘news deserts’, and there are new publications starting in these deserts. For example, the Lexington Observer is about three years old and is a successful news publication in that area of Massachusetts.
With the general rise of jobs in journalism in the South and decline in the North, still nationwide the jobs for journalism are going down.
A reason that Professor Sinuk Kang mentioned could be a reason for the decline is because of AI, specifically with data-driven reporting because AI can process numbers better and faster than humans.
“AI can’t replace the human element,” Professor Kang said when talking about if AI can take over the story telling that journalists do.
Another reason that Professor George Layng mentioned is the rise of social media and digital journalism, with the rise of the internet more people are going online for news instead of reading a physical newspaper. From that a lot of newspapers have stopped producing physical newspapers and are now only online.
Digital is cheaper and to still make money publications will put up pay walls and include digital ads. But that transition from new to old is difficult.
“I think we will see new publications emerging,” Professor Layng mentioned.
Overall the prediction of jobs in journalism going down by 4% over the next ten years from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is a prediction, and it is unclear what could happen to that number in reality. In comparison, accountants and auditors are predicted to go up by 5% by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics over the next ten years.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also projects that from 2024-2034 there will be a 3.1% growth of employment across America. That 3.1% is much smaller than the projection for 2014-2024 which was 13%.
