Sunday, Mar. 28, 2021
Have journalism jobs declined significantly over the past 20 years?
More than 25% of U.S. newspapers have shut down since 2004, according to a University of North Carolina study, and many others have cut payrolls in respond to continuing declines in print advertising and circulation revenues. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number of total newspaper jobs (including all roles, not just news gathering) decreased to 174,000 from 412,000 between the years 2001 and 2016.
Pew Research Center reported an overall 23% decrease in journalism jobs between 2008 and 2019. This decline was primarily attributed to the print news sector, which saw a 51% decrease from 71,000 to 35,000 jobs since 2008. TV, radio and online news saw a 9% increase from 43,000 to 53,000 jobs during the same period.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for Media Law and Policy: Addressing the decline of local news, rise of platforms, and spread of mis- and disinformation online
- Bureau of Labor Statistics Newspaper publishers lose over half their employment from January 2001 to September 2016
- Pew Research Center US newspapers have shed half of their newsroom employees since 2008
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