Answer & Explanation:1. This assignment requires you to write a summery/response to the Reading: 2013 American Journalist in the Digital Age Key Findings.2. The required minimum word count is 500. No multimedia element is required in this assignment. In brief, this Reading discusses 21 key findings of the industry. You are required to select five of the key points and respond to them. In your original response, consider the following:Introduction Summary point one; agree/disagree, whySummary point two; agree/disagree, whySummary point three; agree/disagree, whySummary point four; agree/disagree, whySummary point five; agree/disagree, whyConclusionIn summary, an introduction includes your thesis and or summary. Then, each body paragraph summarizes one point and responds to it. Lastly, the conclusion wraps up the response.
2013_american_journalist_key_findings_1_.pdf
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Key Findings
© Lars Willnat
Lars Willnat and David H. Weaver (2014).
The American Journalist in the Digital Age: Key Findings.
Bloomington, IN: School of Journalism, Indiana University.
Cover design by Kurtis Beavers.
Key Findings
Executive Summary
This survey continues the series of major national studies of U.S. journalists
begun in 1971 by sociologist John Johnstone and continued in 1982, 1992, and
2002 by David Weaver and his colleagues at Indiana University. Much as the U.S.
Census does for the general population, these studies provide an important decennial measure of the pulse of U.S. journalism.
This present study, based on online interviews with 1,080 U.S. journalists that
were conducted during the fall of 2013, updates these findings and adds new ones
concerning the role of social media in journalism. Overall, the findings suggest that
the past decade has had significant effects on U.S. journalists, some more negative
than positive.
Compared to 2002, the updated demographic profile of U.S. journalists reveals
that they are now older on average, slightly more likely to be women, slightly less
likely to be racial or ethnic minorities, slightly more likely to be college graduates,
more likely to call themselves Independents politically, and less likely to identify
with both the Republican and Democratic political parties.
Among the more negative findings are that U.S. journalists today are less satisfied
with their work, less likely to say they have complete autonomy to select stories,
much more likely to say that journalism is headed in the wrong direction than in the
right one, and much more likely to say that their news staffs have shrunk in the past
year rather than remained the same or grown.
Other findings indicate that U.S. journalists are less likely to consider reaching
the widest possible audiences and getting information to the public quickly as
very important roles, and more likely to emphasize the importance of investigating
government claims and analyzing complex problems.
In addition, far fewer U.S. journalists in 2013 are willing to say that some reporting practices might be justified in the case of an important story. These practices
include using confidential or personal documents without permission, badgering
or harassing news sources, seeking undercover employment, posing as someone
else, and paying for information. These seem to be indicators of a more cautious
and perhaps more ethical journalism.
New findings indicate that U.S. journalists rely heavily on social media in their daily
work. Most use social media to check for breaking news and to monitor what other
news organizations are doing, and fewest use these interactive media for verifying
information and interviewing sources. Most agree that social media promote them
and their work, keep them more engaged with their audiences, and lead to faster
reporting. Far fewer say that social media have decreased their workload, improved
their productivity, allowed them to cover more news or enhanced their credibility.
Additional findings are available online at AmericanJournalistSurvey.com
Lars Willnat, Ph.D.
Professor of Journalism
David H. Weaver, Ph.D.
Distinguished and
Roy W. Howard Professor
Emeritus
School of Journalism,
Indiana University
www.journalism.indiana.edu
The authors would like to thank the IU School of Journalism for its generous
support of this study.
1
Key Findings
1.
Most See
Journalism
Going In
‘Wrong
Direction’
Journalists in America
have historically enjoyed
a prominent and influential status in society
as the “Fourth Estate”
of government. Yet this
position of esteem seems
to be eroding in recent
years, at least in the opinions of the journalists we
surveyed.
Less than one-fourth
(23.1 percent) of the
respondents said that
journalism in the United
States was headed in the
right direction, compared
to more than twice that
number (59.7 percent)
who saw journalism going
in the wrong direction.
When asked about the
“most important problem facing journalism
today,” the journalists
in our study mentioned
the
following
issues
most often: Declining
profits (mentioned by
20.4 percent); threats to
profession from online
media (11.4 percent); job
cuts and downsizing (11.3
percent); the need for a
new business model and
funding structure (10.8
percent); hasty reporting
(9.9 percent).
Perceived Direc3on of Journalism in U.S.
PERCENTAGE OF ALL JOURNALISTS
70%
60%
59.7%
50%
40%
30%
23.1%
20%
17.2%
10%
0%
Wrong direc3on
Right direc3on
Don’t know
3
Key Findings
2.
Newsrooms
Are
Shrinking
A clear majority of U.S.
journalists (62.6 percent)
report that their workforces have shrunk in
the past year, while only
about a quarter (24.2
percent) said that their
staff numbers remained
the same and even fewer
reported some growth
(13.2 percent).
These findings reflect
the economic downsizing
during the Great Recession of 2007-09 as well
as the tremendous loss of
advertising revenue to the
Internet. According to our
estimates, the full-time
editorial workforce in U.S.
news media shrank by 32
percent since its peak in
1992 and now stands at
about 83,000 full-time
professional
employees. This means that the
U.S. news force today is
smaller than it was in the
late 1970s.
On the other hand,
skilled journalists adept
at working in the new
media environment are
currently in high demand,
which likely has contributed to growth among
a small number of U.S.
news organizations.
Size of Workforce During Past Year
PERCENTAGE OF ALL JOURNALISTS
70%
60%
62.6%
50%
40%
30%
24.2%
20%
13.2%
10%
0%
The
American
Journalist
in the
digital
age
Shrunk
Remained the same
Grown
Key Findings
3.
Journalists Are Getting Older
The median age of full-time U.S. journalists continues
to increase. In 2002, the average age of journalists was
41—in 2013, it was 47. This trend applies to journalists
at daily and weekly newspapers, radio and television
stations, newsmagazines, wire services, and online
news sites.
These findings almost certainly reflect the aging of
the baby boom generation. During the 1970s, boomers
inflated the 25- to 34-year-old age bracket in the American Journalist survey. In the 1980s, they inflated the 35to 44-year-old group. In the 1990s, the boomers moved
into the 45- to 54-year-old age group, which increased
from 14 percent of all journalists to 28 percent. The
oldest journalists worked for wire services (median age
51 years), newsmagazines, and radio (both 50 years).
Journalists working for daily newspapers (48 years)
and online news media (46 years) tended to be slightly
younger. The youngest journalists were found at weekly
newspapers and television stations (both 43 years).
Compared to the 2012 U.S. civilian labor force, U.S.
journalists in 2013 are considerably less likely to be
younger than 24 years of age (4.8 percent vs. 13.7
percent), slightly less likely to be 25 to 34 (19.4 percent
vs. 21.6 percent) and 35 to 44 (19.3 percent vs. 21.1
percent), significantly more likely to be 45 to 54 (29.2
percent vs. 22.6 percent) and 55 to 64 (23.2 percent vs.
15.9 percent), and about as likely to be 65 and older (4.2
percent vs. 5 percent).
Age
MEDIAN FOR ALL JOURNALISTS IN YEARS
50
47
45
40
35
41
37
36
32
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1971
1982
1992
2002
2013
5
Key Findings
4.
Slight Increase In The Number
Of Female Journalists
The percentage of female U.S. journalists has
increased from 33 percent in 2002 to 37.5 percent in
2013. However, women still represent only slightly more
than one-third of all full-time journalists working for the
U.S. news media, as has been true since the early 1980s.
This trend persists despite the fact that more women
than ever are graduating from journalism schools.
Among all journalists, the largest proportion of
women work for television (42.4 percent) and weekly
newspapers (42 percent), and the smallest for news-
magazines (33.3 percent) and online news media (31.5
percent). Women are 38.1 percent of radio journalists, 36.9 percent of wire service journalists, and 34.9
percent of daily newspaper journalists.
Compared to the U.S. civilian work force in 2012, U.S.
journalists are considerably less likely to be women
(37.5 percent vs. 46.9 percent) and even less likely than
the overall U.S. managerial and professional work force,
which included 51.5 percent women in 2012. Thus,
retention of women in journalism is still a problem.
Gender
Female
PERCENTAGE OF ALL JOURNALISTS
Male
90%
80%
79.7%
70%
66.2%
60%
67.0%
66.0%
62.5%
50%
40%
33.8%
30%
20%
34.0%
33.0%
37.5%
20.3%
10%
0%
1971
The
American
Journalist
in the
digital
age
1982
1992
2002
2013
Key Findings
5.
Female
Journalists
Tend To Leave
Profession
Earlier
Women are not only
underrepresented in journalism, they also tend to
leave the profession much
earlier on average than
do men. Among U.S. journalists with fewer than
five years of work experience, women almost
match men working in
the profession with 49.4
percent. However, this
relatively small gender
gap grows continuously
with years in journalism.
Among journalists with
five to nine years of experience, only 44.3 percent
are women. This percentage drops to 41.2 percent
among journalists with 10
to 14 years of work experience, and 39.7 percent
among journalists with 15
to 19 years of experience.
The largest gap is found
among journalists with
20 or more years of experience, where only a third
(33 percent) are women.
Years in Journalism by Gender
Male
PERCENTAGE OF ALL JOURNALISTS
Female
70%
67.0%
60%
50%
60.3%
58.8%
55.7%
50.6% 49.4%
44.3%
40%
41.2%
39.7%
33.0%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0 -‐ 4 yrs
5-‐9 yrs
10-‐14 yrs
15-‐19 yrs
20+ yrs
7
Key Findings
6.
Slight Decrease In The Number
Of Minority Journalists
The number of full-time minority journalists working
for the U.S. news media has decreased slightly to 8.5
percent during the past decade. As a consequence, the
total percentage of minority journalists remains well
below the overall percentage of minorities in the U.S.
population (36.6 percent in 2012).
Minority journalists in the United States are more
likely to be women (50 percent) than are white journalists (36.3 percent). In addition, among all U.S. journalists with less than five years experience, 13.8 percent
are minorities, suggesting that efforts to hire minorities
in the past few years have been somewhat successful.
However, a more appropriate comparison might be
with the percentage of college degree holders who
are minorities (27.9 percent according to the 2010
U.S. Census), considering that a four-year bachelor’s
degree is now the minimum educational requirement
for journalists working in the United Sates.
Television employs the largest percentage of minority journalists (15.4 percent) and online news organizations the lowest (4.4 percent). Radio is second with
10.3 percent, followed by wire services (8.9 percent),
daily newspapers (8.5 percent), newsmagazines (6.9
percent), and weekly newspapers (5.6 percent).
Minority Journalists
PERCENTAGE OF ALL JOURNALISTS
10%
9.5%
9%
8%
8.5%
8.2%
7%
6%
5%
4%
5.0%
3.9%
3%
2%
1%
0%
1971
The
American
Journalist
in the
digital
age
1982
1992
2002
2013
Key Findings
7.
Journalists Are More Likely To Be
College Graduates
The percentage of U.S. journalists with at least a
college bachelor’s degree continues to increase. It’s
clear that the four-year bachelor’s degree is the main
qualification necessary for being hired as a journalist
in most U.S. news media. Only about 8 percent of all
full-time journalists do not have at least a bachelor’s
degree.
Of those with a degree, 37.4 percent were journalism
majors in college, a slight increase from 36.2 percent
in 2002, but still below the 39.4 percent in 1992 and
the 39.8 percent in 1982. When those who majored in
radio-TV, telecommunication, mass communication or
communication are added, the percentage increases
significantly to 51.8 percent, slightly higher than what
it was in 2002 (49.5 percent). In sum, about half of all
U.S. journalists with college degrees have majored in
journalism or communication. The largest proportion of
journalism majors is found in television (45.3 percent),
followed by daily newspapers (41.4 percent), weekly
newspapers (39.8 percent), online news organizations
(39.6 percent), wire services (28 percent), radio (20.8
percent), and newsmagazines (15.3 percent).
Overall, U.S. journalists in 2013 are much more likely
to have earned college degrees than the adult population in the United States (31.7 percent) or the U.S. civilian labor force (34.6 percent).
College Graduates
PERCENTAGE OF ALL JOURNALISTS
100%
90%
89.3%
80%
82.1%
70%
70.1%
60%
50%
92.1%
58.2%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1971
1982
1992
2002
2013
9
Key Findings
8.
Gender Pay Gap Persists
The median salary for U.S. journalists rose to $50,028
in 2012, an increase of less than $7,000 over the median salary in 2001 ($43,588). This was a 12.9 percent
increase, less than half of the combined inflation rate
of 29.5 percent during this decade (2001-12). During
the 42 years since the first survey, journalists’ salaries
have increased almost five-fold (from $11,133 in 1970),
but journalists’ income has lagged significantly behind
inflation. In 2012, journalists would have needed to earn
a median salary of about $65,878 to have had the same
buying power as in 1970, according to the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
Women journalists’ median salary in 2012 was
$44,342, about 83 percent of men’s median salary of
$53,600—about the same percentage as in 2001 and
1991 (81 percent), but a significant improvement over
1981 (71 percent) and 1970 (64 percent). Overall, journalists’ median salary for 2012 is slightly higher than
the average annual pay for the U.S. civilian labor force
in 2012, which was $45,535.
Female journalists with more than 20 years of work
experience earn 6.6% less on average than their
male colleagues with the same level of experience
($72,679/$67,885). However, for journalists with 15 to
19 years ($53,333/$41,944) and 10 to 14 years of experience ($40,000/$31,429) the income gap jumps to
21.4%. Among journalists with five to nine years of experience, the gap shrinks to 2.4% ($31,293/$30,555) and
then reverses for those with less than five years of work
experience ($24,167/$25,761).
Median Income by Gender
Male
PER YEAR FOR JOURNALISTS
Female
$55,000
$53,600
$50,000
$45,000
$46,780
$40,000
$37,731
$35,000
$34,167
$30,000
$27,669
$25,000
$20,000
$21,000
$15,000
$10,000
$5,000
$44,342
$14,984
$11,955
$7,702
$0
1970
The
American
Journalist
in the
digital
age
1981
1991
2001
2012
Key Findings
9.
More Journalists Say
They Are Independents
Compared with 2002, the percentage of full-time U.S.
journalists who claim to be Democrats has dropped 8
percentage points in 2013 to about 28 percent, moving
this figure closer to the overall population percentage of
30 percent, according to a December 12-15, 2013, ABC
News/Washington Post national poll of 1,005 adults.
This is the lowest percentage of journalists saying they
are Democrats since 1971.
An even larger drop was observed among journalists
who said they were Republicans in 2013 (7.1 percent)
than in 2002 (18 percent), but the 2013 figure is still
notably lower than the percentage of U.S. adults who
identified with the Republican Party (24 percent
according to the poll mentioned above).
About half of all journalists (50.2 percent) said they
were Independents, which is 10 percentage points
above the figure for all U.S. adults (40 percent).
Overall, U.S. journalists today are much more likely to identify themselves as Independents rather than
Democrats or Republicans—a pattern not observed
before 2002.
Party Affilia7on
Democrat
PERCENTAGE OF ALL JOURNALISTS
Republican
Independent
Other
100%
90%
80%
35.5%
38.5%
44.1%
35.9%
70%
28.1%
7.1%
60%
50%
25.7%
18.8%
18.0%
16.4%
50.2%
40%
32.5%
30%
20%
39.1%
34.4%
6.3%
3.6%
5.1%
1971
1982
1992
32.5%
10%
0%
13.6%
14.6%
2002
2013
11
Key Findings
10.
Job Satisfaction Drops Further
Articles in journalism reviews and media trade publications have lamented the decline of morale in the
nation’s newsrooms. Our survey findings suggest that
this is indeed the case. Job satisfaction has dropped
from 33.3 percent of journalists who said they were
“very satisfied” with their job in 2002, to 23.3 percent
who said so in 2013.
This trend continues the decline in job satisfaction
that was observed between 1971 and 1992, but was
interrupted with a positive bounce in 2002.
Overall, about a quarter of U.S. journalists said they
were either somewhat (19.3 percent) or very (6.2
percent) dissatisfied with their jobs. This represents a
significant increase from 2002 when only 16.1 percent
said they were somewhat or very dissatisfied.
Women were slightly less satisfied in 2013 than were
men, with 71.6 percent of women journalists saying
they were either very or fairly satisfied compared with
76.3 percent of male journalists. No significant differences were found for minority journalists.
Job Sa1sfac1on
PERCENTAGE OF ALL JOURNALISTS “VERY SATISFIED”
60%
50%
49.0%
40%
40.0%
33.3%
30%
27.3%
23.3%
20%
10%
0%
1971
The
American
Journalist
in the
digital
age
1982
1992
2002
2013
Key Findings
11.
Perceived Job
Autonomy Also
Drops
Journalism has been
called a “semi-profession” in part because
claims to workplace autonomy have not been as
firmly established as in
many other professions.
Even though all professions face challenges
to their autonomy, the
threats can be even more
acute for semi-professions like journalism.
In 1971, Johnstone and
his colleagues speculated that journalists’
professional autonomy
could be undermined by
the fact that most journalists worked in large,
hierarchical
organizations.
Our surveys of U.S.
journalists since 1982
document a continuing
erosion of perceived professional autonomy in
the nation’s newsrooms.
While a majority (60 percent) of journalists said
that they had “almost
complete freedom” in
selecting their stories
in 1971 and 1982, only a
third (33.6 percent) said
so in 2013.
Job Autonomy
PERCENTAGE OF ALL JOURNALISTS WITH
“ALMOST COM …
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