The "burn out"

Several of my friends, and many other promising young journalists, are rethinking a career in journalism.
Why?
There are several reasons, but most revolve around the same thing: The burnout.

The title of Dr. Scott Reinardy’s 2007 study says it all: “Newspaper journalism in crisis: Burnout on the rise, eroding young journalists’ career.”

Read the abstract:

The three-component Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (Exhaustion, Cynicism and Professional Efficacy) was implemented to examine burnout among newspaper journalists (N = 770). With a moderate rate of exhaustion, a high rate of cynicism and a moderate rate of professional efficacy, burnout among the journalists in this study demonstrate higher rates of burnout than previous work. Additionally, journalists expressing intentions to leave the profession (n = 173) demonstrated high rates of exhaustion and cynicism, and moderate rates of professional efficacy, making them “at-risk” for burnout. This study is the first to link burnout to intentions to leave journalism. Also, 74.5 percent of journalists 34 and younger (n = 223) expressed intentions to either leave newspaper journalism or answered “don’t know.” The most “at-risk” to turnout appear to be young copy editors or page designers working at small newspapers.

“Plummeting circulation, declining revenues, new technology, convergence, conglomerate ownership, and layoffs provide a bleak picture for anyone pursuing a career in newspapers,” Reinardy said.

In 2006, newspaper stocks declined 14 percent, Sunday circulation continued its downward trend at 3.4 percent, and since 2000, about 3,000 full-time newsroom staff positions have been eliminated (Project for Excellence in Journalism, 2007). Meanwhile, Web readership continues to grow but fails to provide the revenue stream of print.

One of my good friends, my age, was considering stepping down from an interesting - and leading - position in a newsroom. The "burn out" had come. He thought his job was no longer inspiring or rewarding.

"It's difficult, especially when dealing extensively with readers' questions and criticism, to maintain a positive outlook when the picture too often seems bleak," he said. "And we're in an industry with a split personality - (one) part young, fresh, and three parts older and somewhat cynical."

He went on, "The intersection of the former with the latter can discourage even the most optimistic of young hopefuls (if the environment they find isn't encouraging but more critical and acidic. While we're operating under the mantra of 'we'll figure it out,' it's easy to get mired in questions and become lost. It's easy to see why the industry might be losing the focus of its historic mission, with everyone throwing up their hands in exasperation or, in some cases, defeat. And that environment can wear on young folks, who aren't committed to a future yet, who can change paths."

Another friend is planning to go to law school. She wanted to have a specific beat, but has found that the type of job she's looking for is difficult to find and feels as if she's wasting time and energy on writing community news.

One of my friends thinks location is a barrier. She wants to live in a certain city- where her family and soon-to-be husband live, but the newspapers nearby aren't hiring (no big surprise... especially considering the largest one there is McClatchy-owned). So, is she supposed to choose to live somewhere away from her family and soon-to-be husband (she was working at a newspaper 2.5 hours away)? Or, should she just step out of the journalism field and find a job close to home?

I talked about this with several veteran journalists at the IRE Conference a few weeks ago.

Someone said he didn't understand "young journalists these days." He said it seemed like we youngsters just wanted to jump through the hoops and not put in time doing the "grunt work" to gain experience and get ahead. He said young journalists seem more impatient than ever and don't want to spend a year or two at a small weekly newspaper - "they just expect to land their first job at a major metro or in a dream position."

Maybe there's some truth to that. I admit that I know some people who expected to land their dream job right out of J-school. And I know some that wanted to start small. Depends on the person, I guess. But, on the other hand, maybe young journalists "these days" just have a better vision of what they want to do. Maybe we're more motivated now; maybe we've already spent countless hours working for free at our college newspapers or going to faraway cities to work low-paying internships; or maybe we're really, really determined to take on this changing industry.

Another journalist said she had experienced the "burn out" several years ago. She is now a well-known journalist at a major metro newspaper. She said she had been laid off about a decade ago and even considered giving up. But, she said, "Sometimes you just got to go through the shit. But you'll make it through, I promise."

I'm really just writing this to prompt some thought about young journalists and the "burn out." I hope our industry isn't losing talented journalists, and I hope young journalists won't give up and lose the motivation and inspiration that interested us in journalism.
So, how can we be re-inspired? How can editors and veteran reporters encourage us? Do most all young journalists experience the burn out this early on? If so, why? And what should we do to prevent it? Looking for answers so I can pass them along to all my talented, wonderful friends...