For some it’s just the money, but other young college journalism stars see a profession where the sacrifices are much greater than the rewards. Can this be changed?
By Jesse Rifkin | Daily Beast
Of the past 11 winners for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ College Columnist Award, bestowed annually upon the country’s top university newspaper opinion writer, fewer than half entered journalism professionally. Only five did. Six did not.
Much criticism has been leveled at journalism’s failure in recruiting and retaining enough conservatives, racial minorities, and socioeconomically diverse writers. Yet another pressing workforce issue with significant detrimental effects on the quality of America’s fourth estate has lurked subterranean this whole time, attracting seemingly zero attention: how many of America’s top young journalists aren’t entering journalism.
