PunchyC: Research Report on Journalism: CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS 3

1.7 JOB PROSPECTS

So what do all these changes mean for the type and number of jobs in journalism?

As you can see, workload has increased by about 70% and this is mainly due to the need for multi-media skills and reductions in staff. Journalists have to do everything now - write, design, film, photograph and publish all to endless deadlines in the new 24-hour news cycle. You also have to write for a number of sections, rather than your own specialised area. Currently when people are made redundant in print media, they are not replaced; their role is simply handed over to another journalist at the paper or individual stories offered to a freelancer who can be called in last minute. The changing climate in journalism with online media and 24 hours news cycles does mean that you no longer have slow days waiting for breaks, and you have to constantly seek stories. As Rafael Epstein, The Age comments, “We are living in the midst of a Revolution” and reporters such as Nick McKenzie (also at The Age) is constantly on his phone and email investigating and finding stories.

As Colin McKinnon, Editor, Training and Development, The Age confirms with this statement, “there has been a 20% cut in journalists in the last 18 months, and gaining a job is very competitive. More than 550 applicants competed for just three positions as trainees in 2010.” In 2009, the Herald Sun offered no cadetships at all, there were 3 available at The Age and the ABC normally has a few available each year.

There are also shifts in the disparity between the numbers of male and female journalists in Australia. It was noted in the interviews that Channel 7 now has a lot of women and older women for that matter. Scary (Steve Carey, News Director at Channel 7) said the applications from males were lacking some crucial elements now, including communication skills. Other facts gained in our interviews with industry heads were:

70% of applicants to the ABC are women now

70% of trainees at The Age were female in the last 10 years

70-80% of the newsroom at the ABC is female.

Hence the majority of journalists will be women in the future if current statistics are indicative of future trends. Evidence of this changing landscape is seen with the Chief Editor of the Sunday Age being female (a traditionally male dominated role). What are the other future trends predicted?

1.8 FUTURE TRENDS

Source: Louise Connor, Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance

Here is a screen shot of a slide that Louise Connor sent to us from her presentation at the http://www.walkleys.com/media-pass-student-days

Social Media is having a big impact on Journalism. Look above and see what would it be like if news had been broadcast only in Tweets. These are some key news stories that have been converted to Twitter in an experiment. Yes journalism and media in general is changing, it will not be broadcast in Tweets only, but Twitter is an ever-growing contribution to news and a key research and networking tool for journalists. Currently 10% of traffic to the online NY Times is sourced from Twitter (that’s 2 million people per month). However, to the notion of social media replacing journalism, Jason Whittaker, Deputy Editor from Crikey states, “It is not the be-all and end-all. Twitter will not save journalism, as some may have you suggest. But as a self-marketing journalist it’s pretty powerful.” And it is expected that social media will continue to be a prominent tool for journalists in creating their individual online presences and by media companies in attempts to capture new audiences. To read more about this trend and its uses, check out our Social Media chapter.

Where exactly the print media industry will be going over the next few years is disagreed on mostly, but prominent opinions suggest fewer papers, a smaller size and less frequency. Also there will be more outsourcing (as already seen with the sub’s sections and the separate magazine publishing companies) and some say newspapers will transform to a more magazine style format. More and more companies will focus on their online content as this cuts printing costs. Taking into account Louise Connor’s comments, hopefully the Australian mainstream media companies will develop their online content in a more innovative manner than currently seen with their copy and paste style of the print media stories.

It is also expected that “smart” newspapers will use Twitter and other social media tools more effectively, as the NY Times has done. Stephen Quinn comments that the “Profession will continue, yet the product and delivery will change. The newspapers will shrink in size and frequency (i.e. Weekend Australian only) and the physical size will shrink”. Stephen qualifies this statement with raising the issue that the public transport problems in metropolitan areas actually prevents people from being able to read the current size of a newspaper and it needs to adapt to this and be more like a magazine (more color, less frequency).

As Collin McKinnon from The Age states, “The newspapers will survive but they will be different.” He also states that he is “optimistic about the future. There are many new and exciting opportunities for journalism in the multimedia age. And The Age wants people who are enthusiastic, energetic and full of ideas for the future of journalism.”

With regards to technology, it is clear that the iPad and similar portable devices are going to continue to transform how news is consumed. As seen on Mumbrella there are already applications for The Australian and The Age which will more than likely continue to shrink readership levels of print media, but will not reduce readership as a whole to these large mainstream media sources who are taking advantage of the new technology.

Mumbrella can exclusively reveal the first screen shots of The Age’s iPad app, after a prototype of the Fairfax Media newspaper’s application briefly appeared on the iTunes store on Saturday night. And the app will even read the stories out for those who find looking at text too much of a chore.

Designer David Curry was able to download the app for $7 a month – slightly more expensive than rival The Australian’s $4.99 app which made its debut on Friday to coincide with the Australian launch of the iPad.

Fairfax revealed last week that it was creating iPad apps for both The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. But it did not announce its pricing or when the products would be available.

Following the initial panic and denial of new media, the major players are now taking advantage of technology and how they can once again make more money, as Murdoch states,

“Mr. Murdoch said the Internet and technology was not the enemy, but complementary platforms that media owners could take advantage of.”

http://mumbrella.com.au/exclusive-the-ages-ipad-app-revealed-26914

This is in reference to the latest figures he had just received on people paying to subscribe to the iPad App’s for all of his newspapers. Hence, it is clear that the mainstream media owners (or should I say owner) will manage to pull through their crisis with the Internet and move forward into the future of online media. As of course, innovative and independent news sources such as Crikey proved several years ago when people agreed to pay a nominal subscription fee to read quality and un-corporatised news reports. The only question left to ask, is what sort of news will subscribers be paying for from Murdoch’s main papers? A question that I personally, or even the current editors of mainstream media cannot answer at this point.

To conclude, media companies will most likely adjust to this changing climate through focusing on their online media sites and their applications for iPhones and iPads. In the future, it would be expected that any surviving news companies would all have applications for these portable devices or they will be left behind, as some of them already have with the mis-management and weak adoption of online media opportunities.

Go back to the Introduction Page with links to the chapters

References:

http://www.alliance.org.au/

http://www.walkleys.com/media-pass-student-days

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/australian-newspapers-post-drop-in-sales-20100514-v2dc.html

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/small-dip-in-metro-paper-sales/story-e6frg996-1225797973630)

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/australian-newspapers-post-drop-in-sales-20100514-v2dc.html

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/online-split-in-newspaper-readership-survey/story-e6frg996-1225831969462

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/jun/14/newspapers-downturn

http://www.presscouncil.org.au/snpma/ch01.html

www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/.../internet%20access%20at%20home%20final%20version.pdf -)

http://mumbrella.com.au/exclusive-the-ages-ipad-app-revealed-26914.