TNTJ post and the future for journalism students

I've got a post on TNTJ (Tomorrow's News, Tomorrow's Journalists, part of Journalism.co.uk) about being a journalism student given the current state of the industry. I've expanded on some of the ideas here.

An extract from the post, which is part of the April 2009 debate on what your summer/post-graduation plans are:

"I’m under no illusions as to how difficult and how competitive it will be to find a job in journalism right now. Every day I read or hear of cutbacks, closures and even graduate schemes no longer going ahead. Whether we like it or not, many of those graduating from journalism courses this year will have to decide if continuing down their apparent career path is worth it, considering the difficulties in the industry.

This is all the more alarming given the 24% rise in applications for journalism courses this year."

It's difficult to know where to begin. Those studying journalism are clearly not all going to end up being roving reporters for local papers or in one of the dwindling numbers of graduate schemes. As well versed as we are in new media and the Internet, there appear to simply not be enough jobs. Jon Slattery reports on the situation here.

Much as we may look for scapegoats, from Google to national newspaper websites, none of it will resolve the fact that there are too many journalism students for journalism jobs. Fellow Sheffield postgrad Natalie Bowen summarises the graduate journalism job market:

"As another door slams shut, the chances of finding meaningful employment in this sector I so dearly want to work in seem slim. Already this year, the Telegraph and Guardian have canceled their schemes, and Trinity Mirror froze their trainee recruitment last year, although interestingly their website doesn't mention this. I guess Dianne Reilly had a lot of students to disappoint."

More from Slattery:

"Some students are being advised to consider going into public relations or to look at ways of using their skills in alternative fields because the jobs market in journalism is so bad. Even the competition for low-paid jobs is higher than usual because there are more experienced out-of-work journalists trying to find a position."

None of us can deny the difficulties, that we have chosen to get on the first rung of an industry that is both dying and changing in a myriad of ways. Given the competition from other journalists and from other graduates - there are more now than ever - no journalism student could be criticised for looking further afield in future employment.

Ben Spencer, another fellow Sheffield postgrad, retains some optimism, at least through the need for journalism itself:

"There aren’t many jobs, old hacks (like Sara Lacy) are telling us that journalism degrees aren’t worth the paper they are written on, and it still requires a healthy bank balance to gain entrance to the fourth estate. It’s a competitive industry, and always has been.

But in the last week Britain’s chief anti-terrorism police officer and a senior Downing Street advisor have been forced out by stories dug up by journalists. News still matters, and journalists will always be needed."

As Ben points out, contributing to the journalism industry does not require you to work as a journalist - arguably, this is already the situation for many students. Michael Haddon, who has also contributed to the TNTJ debate, comments:

"It is obvious there are just not going to be enough staff jobs to support the amount of graduates hoping to pursue work in the media industry, so it makes sense to try and gain freelance work which might be in more plentiful supply."

Now thoughts of walking into one of the best graduate schemes are gone and the aim must be making sure we are best placed for that elusive job which should eventually show up. I plan to continue blogging, interacting using twitter and revitalising that LinkedIn presence where a personal profile might be able to help career ambitions."

There's only so much that can be said but I'd recommend Michael's post in particular on this issue. It's also worth asking what the implications will be for journalism schools across the country, and how courses will change in structure and popularity. Mark Duell, a Sheffield Journalism undergrad, speculates that the difficulties faced in the industry might remove some of the 'lesser' (his word) media degrees:

"By studying journalism practically at a top university, you are taught how to be a good journalist, and leave fully qualified and ready to go. By cutting out these 'lesser' degrees, we might ensure that only people who really want to get into journalism and the media go to the top universities and get the jobs everyone wants."

I'm not convinced that going to one of the top journalism schools - or more accurately, going to one of the 'lesser' ones - necessarily means you are more or less likely to 'really want' to go into journalism. It might be the case that the best teaching is a mixture of these degrees, rather than one standardised way of teaching all those entering British journalism.

Journalism needs new, fresh faces to keep it afloat. Hopefully they'll be able to partake in an industry that, despite the difficulties, they would desperately like to be part of. Otherwise, such a development will only be negative for the media arena in the long run.