Surprise! J-school grads are finding jobs
It's a baffling phenomenon: As the job market for journalists has gotten worse and worse, enrollment in journalism schools has gone up and up. How to explain this?As it turns out, there's a fairly simple, if surprising, explanation: As bad as things are in the media industry, j-school grads are, far more often than not, finding jobs. And not as subway buskers or strip-club managers, but as reporters, editors and fact-checkers. At least that's the case for recent graduates of two New York journalism schools, one of them venerable, one young.
Of the 306 students who earned degrees from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism last month, 197, or 64 percent, already reported having jobs or other post-school plans (such as internships, fellowships or continuing education) lined up by May 28, according to Elizabeth Weinreb Fishman, the school's associate dean for communications. Adds Fishman, "Many of our students have gotten job offers in the last couple weeks, so 64 percent is lower than the actual number now employed." It's also better than last year's graduating class was doing at the same time.
And the places where Columbia grads have found work include some of the same institutions that have made headlines recently for laying off employees: The New York Times, NPR, CNN.
New degree-holders from CUNY's Graduate School of Journalism have found a similarly welcome reception in the workforce, according to Stephen B. Shepard, the school's dean (and former editor-in-chief at BusinessWeek). The most recent class of graduates earned their diplomas in December 2008; of those 45 students, says Shepard, 60 percent have full-time jobs in journalism, while another 15 percent have quasi-full-time internships or freelance gigs.
"Times are indeed tough, but our students are doing very well under these circumstances," says Shepard.
He believes CUNY's curriculum, which focuses on teaching students to practice journalism across all media platforms, has helped them to find spots in rapidly-digitizing newsrooms. Fishman, meanwhile, credits her school's success in placement to the prestige of the Columbia name and "the truly prodigious efforts of our career services team."
My guess is at least some of it is a direct result of the massive staff cutbacks just about every media organization has enacted in the past couple years. It's a corporate cliche to lay people off and euphemize it as "restructuring," but you can be sure that some of the companies that are letting go well-paid editors and writers in their 40s and 50s are quietly stocking up on fresh j-school grads whose lack of real-word experience is at least partly made up for by their effortless fluency in the ways of the web -- and their willingness to work for $35,000 a year.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-11-2009 @ 1:41PM
Zach Seward said...
I think you're right about "restructuring." Also, I'd the think the value of an advanced degree goes up in a tighter job market. But at the same time, I'd be surprised if this trend extends far beyond CUNY and Columbia.
Anyway, I asked for theories on Twitter, and here's what folks said:
ToureX: @NiemanLab J school grads getting jobs story surveys just 2 schools & many of the "jobs" are internships or $35k jobs.
megandemarco: @Niemanlab Only about those who can afford grad school. What about everyone else w. J degrees? "Prestige of the Columbia name" can blow me.
LAJourno: @NiemanLab My sense is they are coming out of college with solid digital skills and they can be hired for less money than veteran journos.
adice: @NiemanLab Between seasoned journos going into early retirement w/buyouts and those who left the biz, I could see how there'd be openings.
peteraxtman: @NiemanLab Cheaper labor than keeping on older journalists?
amhill: @NiemanLab The jobs in journalism are low paid, for beginners. It will be like the PeaceCorps, for the young and dedicated, not a career.
cgervin: @NiemanLab How many of those 64% are interns? And how many of those jobs will allow the students to pay the loans for Columbia?
cgervin: @NiemanLab And how many grads from non-prestigious, non-NYC schools are finding jobs? Those are my questions.
NikkiGroom: @NiemanLab People always want news - not least about the downturn. This is not an industry that's going to run dry anytime soon as I see it.
robbiebax: @NiemanLab only hope for journalism is bringing in young people with creative ideas (is there corresponding loss of experienced-type jobs?)
cjhoyt14: @NiemanLab 1) Better trained for multi-platform world. 2) Sometimes more eager. 3) Cynically? Cheaper, as well.
notaclevername: @NiemanLab Cheap labor to replace the costlier older folks who left through layoffs, buyouts and early retirement.
Reply
6-11-2009 @ 2:18PM
Christine said...
i'm not sure how i feel about this..
http://christinecackles.blogspot.com/2009/06/j-students-are-getting-jobslittle.html
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6-11-2009 @ 3:18PM
Nick said...
I wonder what Columbia J-School's employment breakdown really is. The numbers he got from Columbia's associate dean for communications roll actual jobs in with unpaid internships, fellowships or continuing education.
Which mean that these future stars, instead of stocking up on cash to repay the heap of debt they (or mommy and daddy) just incurred, may be continuing to accrue it. Of the 64 percent of J-School grads with "future plans," I wonder how many are gainfully employed, versus toiling in unpaid internships or filling out loan applications for even more continuing education?
Yes, the well-heeled, bright and qualified can succeed. But that's always been the case. And this item runs the risk of understating its kicker: New journalists are doing more work for less money, even J-School grads.
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6-11-2009 @ 8:14PM
Mike said...
As an '08 graduate of one of the schools mentioned, I have to say that the actual, paid employment of my peers does not accurately reflect this piece of fluff.
It's not the schools' fault— but the industry is definitely still in shambles, and jobs are extremely hard to come by. Officials at the schools are inflating these numbers for the sake of their respective J-school's reputations. As alumni, this is good for me. As a journalist, I can't say that what I am reading is the truth.
I've had unpaid internship and volunteer opportunities thrown at me for months, but no paid, full-time offer yet, and not for lack of effort or networking.
While it may be true that companies are laying off older employees and hiring new, web-savvy talent willing to work for less, you also have to remember that they have their pick of editors with 30+ years of experience. Those people are willing to take a pay cut out of necessity. The class of '08 is competing with Pulizer Prize winners who have been let go. (Literally).
Although this article sounds like good news, it's a bit under-researched. Let's just say it would not have received a passing grade in one of my classes... not enough sources!
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6-11-2009 @ 8:53PM
Bill said...
It makes sense that technologically savvy young journalists would in some cases be in demand. The field is certainly changing, and often those who have spent their lives working in the field can see neither the need for change nor the direction that change might make. Nonetheless I have found some wonderful interviews with major figures in journalism, discussing the future of journalism, which present some very thought provoking and helpful visions of the future. Check out http://www.ourblook.com/component/option,com_sectionex/Itemid,200076/id,8/view,category/#catid69
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6-12-2009 @ 8:43AM
Heather said...
Okay, now I'm insulted a bit. "Lack of real world experience"? The columnist clearly didn't speak with any recent grads (not a hard thing to do fi he/she'd even tried any social network or, say, the alumni or career services offices) or get a real sense of what the respective curricula are like. And frankly, two schools - in the same region - as your representative population? This column's sourcing and reporting is lacking and would have warranted at least one rewrite by any of the professors/editors at at least one of the j-schools mentioned.
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6-12-2009 @ 7:45AM
Heather said...
But yeah, they do touch upon something... they just don't investigate and source it properly.
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6-13-2009 @ 4:25PM
Carol said...
The distinction should be made that your statistics are for graduate schools -- not undergrad. How are students with bachelor's degrees doing?
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6-17-2009 @ 4:09PM
Paul Baron said...
We invite your students and grads to visit www.hometowntimes.com. If we can be of assistance, please reach out and contact us. Best of success.
Reply
6-20-2009 @ 10:32AM
david said...
The 3 job sites chosen by about.com as getting the best results for job seekers -
www.linkedin.com (professional networking)
www.indeed.com (aggregated listings)
www.realmatch.com (matches you to jobs)
good luck to all.
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