20-Year Prospect

20-Year Prospect

This is journalism we're talking about—the free press is one of the most important aspects of our national identity. The "fourth estate" is so ingrained in American life, it must have a great future ahead, right?

Oh, no. No no no. No.

All is not well in the world of journalism. Newspapers, once the greatest source of news and information, can't seem to figure out how to stay afloat in the Internet Age. Unpaid and ad-supported bloggers are a dime a dozen, and they're breaking news just as quickly and reliably as the powerhouse news sites.

All of this means that the government expects the number of journalism jobs to drop, by a downright-scary thirteen percent, over the coming decade (source). 

We're not going to lie to you: this profession could be a rocky road for the duration of your career. To succeed, you're really going to have to want it. On the upside, though, people are always going to want to know what's happening in both the news and celebrity gossip worlds. 

So even if salaries are cut and news sources no longer function the way we've come to expect them to, we'll still need people to deliver that news and gossip.

Even if the outlook isn't particularly rosy for journalism, it should still exist in some form or another twenty years down the road.