PressEthic

As a graduate student in the journalism department at New York University, I know that on some level I am delaying the inevitable: finding a job. I knew the discouraging state of the industry when I enrolled in school. Yet, I figured it couldn’t hurt to earn a masters degree while becoming a stronger, better-equipped, and a hopefully well-connected writer. See, I’m no delusional idealist. Someone will give me a job within the profession that I love. Right?

According to an article in Editor and Publisher this may not be the case. The article states:

“The Audit Bureau of Circulations FAS-FAX report for the six-month period ending September 2006 released this morning confirmed yet again that major metros are struggling to show growth. The losses are steep while the gains are meager.”

As if this isn’t disheartening enough to a potential job seeker, the article continued:

”This is the fourth consecutive semi-annual report to register a severe drop in daily circulation and -- perhaps more troubling to the industry -- Sunday copies. While the estimated decline 2.8% for daily circulation for all reporting papers may seem negligible, consider that in years past that decrease averaged around 1%. Sunday, considered the industry's bread-and-butter, showed even steeper losses, with a decline of about 3.4%.”

According to the article, even Sunday newspaper sales are slipping across the nation. The only major U.S. newspapers with circulation increases were the New York Post and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

So I’m going to make a confession: I am scared. I love a good story. I love getting that ‘perfect’ quote or that unattainable interview. I love nailing the lede or finally getting that sentence to gel just so. I love reporting and I love writing. I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life.

I hope to be a staff writer at a metropolitan daily paper within a year and a half. I just hope I’m not counting on a pipe dream to come true.