Jan

21

A career to avoid: Anything doing with publishing

Posted by Dan

January 21, 2009 |

I’ve worked as a journalist since before I graduated from college in 1991. I love writing, and even more I love getting paid to do it.

But I wouldn’t advise any college student today to enter this field. It’s suffering. And there aren’t many signs that things are going to get better any time soon.

Just look at the evidence: The Chicago Tribune, my hometown newspaper, is bankrupt, has drastically reduced staff and has just finished a desperate redesign in an effort to draw in more readers. Its competitor, the Chicago Sun-Times is on life support.

Meanwhile, the proud Christian Science Monitor has become a largely all-Web enterprise. The Detroit Free Press is going to a three-times-a-week schedule and beefing up its online version. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, a fine paper, has declared bankruptcy.

It’s depressing just writing about it.

Meanwhile, more and more journalists are turning to the Web. Problem is, online writing, while generally easier and less time-consuming than writing for print publications, doesn’t pay nearly as well.

It’s a tough world for journalists and freelance writers. So tough, I’d advise all you students to study something else.


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