Newsroom Staffing Levels All Time Low Since 1978
In a report released by ASNE, staffing levels in newsrooms have decreased at its greatest annual rate since 1978. The number of newsroom employees has decreased by 2,400 positions or almost 4.5%.
The reduction in headcount is only fitting considering the route news coverage is taking. Many publishers have realized that their online newspaper portal has become something of a standalone brand, better extending their products life span and audience base. Readers have also become accustom to gathering news in blog posts, bite sized info packs or even from other readers who contribute to stories and all of these things combined, lessen the conventional needs to employ newsroom personnel at the same levels.
When asked how the Internet has changed journalism, Sreenath Sreenivasan, associate professor of professional practice at the Columbia University School of Journalism, said, “The Internet has changed journalism in every conceivable way. It’s changed the journalists, the audience, the advertisers — the whole ecosystem. It’s had the single biggest impact on journalism since the telephone.”
Scott Karp, co-founder of Publish2, calls 2008 the year that journalists must change or die. I personally think that the weeding out of those who can’t adapt to the way of Journalism 2.0 has already begun. I do agree with Karp however that there will be more cuts to the team and those left standing will be those who have embraced the power of multi-media; have come to terms with the fact that they are not the only ones telling the story – readers now have a voice too; and probably the most painful of all, the fit must understand that the object of the game is to get the story out as soon as possible and edit, primp and prop after.
