From the assistant editor
Over the past couple of months, it’s felt impossible to log onto social media without seeing a flood of posts from journalists announcing they’ve been laid off. Earlier this year, BuzzFeed shut down its Pulitzer Prize-winning Buzzfeed News. Public media outlets Southern California Public Radio, New York Public Radio, and New England Public Radio cut their staff by 10, 12, and 20 percent, respectively. More recently, The Washington Post announced plans to eliminate 240 positions.
These layoffs come even as the industry continuously churns out new ideas that promise to “save journalism:” artificial intelligence, hedge funds, social-first models, investments in local journalism, and the list goes on. But in her most recent column for Nieman Reports, Katherine Reynolds Lewis reminds us of a hard truth for surviving in journalism: “Forget the billionaires, philanthropists, technologists, coders, and CEOs. Nobody is coming to save us. We must save ourselves.”
Journalism can be a chaotic field, but Katherine offers her tips on how we can take control over our work by actively managing our careers, building robust professional networks, investing in continual education, and paying attention to business and media news. Doing so can help us “ride the waves of this turbulent profession — and be ready to leap when the time comes,” she writes.
We hope you take the time to read Katherine’s piece and let us know what you think.
Wishing you all the best,
Natalie De Rosa
Assistant Editor, Nieman Reports
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