Cutting Deeper

U.S. Newspapers Wipeout Jobs and Alter Career Identities

Bibliographic Data

ID12908851
AuthorsScott Reinardy (University of Kansas, corresponding author), Lawrence Zion (0000-0003-2086-3076, La Trobe University)
Year2019
Volume14
Issue10
Pages1211-1224
Publication date2019-11-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1751-2786 • E-ISSN: 1751-2794
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17512786.2019.1691935
OpenAlexW2983173736
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited27

Modeled on the “New Beats: A study of Australian Journalism Redundancies” project (2014–17), the purpose of this study was to gather data to examine how forced career change among U.S. newspaper journalists has affected their employment, professional identities, financial situations and perceptions of newspaper journalism. Drawing from a sample of about 350 former and current U.S. newspaper journalists who had lost their jobs, 47% said the career change did not affect their professional identity. Meanwhile, 36% still identify themselves as journalists, although many have not worked in their traditional newspaper job for several years. Similarities between this study and those conducted by the New Beats team include: About 30% of those who left newspapers returned to journalism jobs; the most common new career for the departed was in media communications or marketing; and Australian journalists and American journalists demonstrated a breadth of positive and negative emotions after leaving their media jobs. A common finding between this study and the Australian parent study is that journalists are actively negotiating their professional identity at a profoundly challenging moment, and that despite the role of structural forces, journalists are retaining at least some agency in how they define themselves

Career development · Media studies · Newspaper · Pedagogy · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Retirement, Disability, and Employment · Work-Family Balance Challenges