Why are people leaving the broadcast news industry?
As I enter the end of my undergraduate career in journalism and graphic design at Quinnipiac University, thoughts of what my future will look like after graduation plague my mind. I am interested in going into the broadcast television/newscast industry because that has been the main focus of my undergraduate degree. This industry is what I have put all my time, dedication, and longest hours into. However, it's no secret that the industry has been experiencing major cutbacks in recent years.
Going back to the pandemic, people believed we were experiencing a "Great Resignation". This was a term that people coined to describe the large movement of workers who were leaving their jobs to pursue passion projects that they enjoyed more; things they would dream of pursuing but never actually had the courage to. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2021 more than 47 million Americans quit their jobs; the most resignations ever on record. Additionally, the pandemic drastically changed how people can work by bringing in remote work. Now instead of moving in and out of an office each day, everyone was home, and quitting your job only meant tossing one laptop to get another laptop.
However, throughout 2020, the broadcast industry surprisingly did very well. In fact, according to a journalism Times Union podcast called the Eagle by Kristi Gustafson Barlette, she says, “In 2020, we only saw roughly a dozen people leave throughout the whole year”. Yet, so far this year [2021], as of August 1st, we’ve already seen a dozen people leave their jobs. And of those 12 people that left, 10 people left the industry”.
Therefore, it seems that the “Great Resignation” especially impacted broadcast journalists because most of the people leaving their jobs are not going to another one. Instead, they’re likely pursuing a passion project, or something completely out of their field. These statistics are really interesting and slightly alarming because having 10 out of 12 people leave the news industry and completely shift gears into something else is a massive number. Furthermore, using my own experience, I can also say I’ve seen a sharp rise in people leaving broadcast as a whole too.
I work at a local news station where I just started about a month or two ago. In that span, three people have just left within the same week and one person is about to leave soon. Of those four people, three of them are leaving the industry completely, saying that it just becomes “way too much”, after a while. One of them is switching to another station, two of them are going to pursue social media management and the last one is going to be a creative writer at a magazine.
The truth is, I completely agree that this industry is insane. The long and inconvenient hours (overnight shifts, overtime hours), the hard and stressful days (breaking news, sad and frightening news, uncomfortable situations) and the 24/7 environment cannot only become a lot to handle, but I can see it also becoming toxic. Therefore, I understand where those folks are coming from.
However, after dozens of conversations with my coworkers, one thing that everyone in this industry has in common, is that they come into it because they love it. You don’t enter the news industry unless you love it because truthfully, there aren’t many monetary benefits that would convince you to stay. And without I doubt, I know that I love it.
Through working in this industry, I have met the most inspiring reporters, journalists, and leaders that I didn’t even know existed. I have worked with some of the most hard-working and persistent people that I’ve ever met. They have each taught me and inspired me that that’s what it takes to make it to the top, and I can’t stop until I get there.
So now despite all of the stress and possible inconvenience that may come with this field, I want to pursue it more than I ever have before. I now know that the road might be long or rocky, but instead of stopping me, it seems to be motivating me. In the end, I know that I would rather have lived a life full of passion, ups and downs, and inspiring chaos than settle for something that might just be a little bit easier.