By Carl Leighton
Journalism is renowned as being an extremely tough industry to get in to. Add to that a global economic crisis and owners wanting to line their own pockets rather than improve their content and all that is left is a very worrying time.
It’s not only those people who are already journalists who should be concerned about what the future holds. If journalism was already a tough nut to crack, then surely for budding journalists that nut is getting even more impregnable.
Even from brief chats with people who are already in the industry it is hard to feel anything other than slightly depressed and drained of enthusiasm for a future in the industry. Perhaps I was unfortunate enough to stumble across some pessimistic journalists or I have been made aware of the reality of the business.
Bleak Future
BBC World Service’s Ali Tussi said: “I believe that the near term future is bleak, very bleak.” He went on to say, “this grave situation will really become a nightmare once [David] Cameron comes in next year.”
“There are going to be massive job cuts and more worryingly there will be no concept of fair, unbiased, objective broadcasting…other media will be under as much threat as broadcasters.”
Fellow BBC World Service member Howard Zan echoed the thoughts of Tussi saying: “I’m a pessimist for the future of the entire industry.”
Zan feels that people looking to get into the industry should make sure they have another profession to work in and hope jobs increase. “At this uncertain time go for a more certain profession for now and if you see a change of wind then change. There is no glamour in it.”
Change Is Good
Despite the rather negative and in some ways depressing comments from Tussi and Zan there are some people within journalism who have positive feelings about what the future holds.
John Coghlan from the Northern Ireland Broadcast Branch of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) felt that there were exciting times ahead for journalism.
“I think it’s very very exciting for young people coming into the industry because you have green field site of new technology… we just don’t know where it’ll go.”
Unlike his colleagues Coghlan doesn’t feel pessimistic about journalism as a profession.
“I wouldn’t be pessimistic about the possibilities of journalism as a profession; it’ll just change and maybe more exciting.”
Uncertainty
Even though Coghlan is upbeat about the future, as somebody hopeful of forcing their way into the industry it is difficult to look past the negativity which was present in many journalists’ opinions.
On the other hand that negativity will simply act as a form of motivation to break into the increasingly difficult industry and journalists don’t always get things correct.
People will always need journalists no matter how much technology comes along or how greedy the fat cats become. As students of journalism it is our job to not become too downbeat by what we hear and read, we will simply have to work harder and hope to have a little luck in order to crack that nut.
