Economic downfall hits journalism students
James Baker
Issue date: 1/23/09 Section: News
Behind a little desk in sunny Pasadena, Calif., a newspaper owner hands out town story assignments to reporters living halfway around the world in India, where they make $7.50 for every 1,000 words on stories ranging from the town Christmas tree lighting to city council meetings watched on webcasts.
In a New York Times column, Maureen Dowd observed a local paper outsource one of the last domestic remnants of what goes into a newspaper: the reporting.
Outside the scope of the California sun, tough economic times are hitting college students and graduates, many of whom are saddled with debt.
The 20 to 29 age group began 2009 with a 9.8 percent unemployment rate, more than 2.5 percent above the national average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Aside from the 18.9 percent unemployment rate of the 16 to 19 age group, the 20 to 29 age group, consisting college graduates and young professionals, is 3 percent or more above the older age groups.
As the recession stretches into the coming year, many professions have seen a rise in the hiring of those who have years of experience, who can take on a number of tasks and responsibilities that a 23-year-old graduate hasn't learned yet.
While students are increasingly uneasy about graduating into a recession, even student newspapers like The Daily Californian, which serves the University of California at Berkeley, are cutting back circulation days and looking to trim their staff, according to the higher education news service Inside Higher Ed.
"I'm not in the job market yet, and it's affecting me, " Caitlyn Rush, a journalism advertising and public relations major, said. A planned Washington, D.C. internship at The Washington Post is "now up in the air," Rush said.
A friend working as an investigative reporter at The Washington Post was laid off and had to claw his way back through the unions to get a six-month extension, Rush said, which would have taken away her leverage in a competitive process.
In a New York Times column, Maureen Dowd observed a local paper outsource one of the last domestic remnants of what goes into a newspaper: the reporting.
Outside the scope of the California sun, tough economic times are hitting college students and graduates, many of whom are saddled with debt.
The 20 to 29 age group began 2009 with a 9.8 percent unemployment rate, more than 2.5 percent above the national average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Aside from the 18.9 percent unemployment rate of the 16 to 19 age group, the 20 to 29 age group, consisting college graduates and young professionals, is 3 percent or more above the older age groups.
As the recession stretches into the coming year, many professions have seen a rise in the hiring of those who have years of experience, who can take on a number of tasks and responsibilities that a 23-year-old graduate hasn't learned yet.
While students are increasingly uneasy about graduating into a recession, even student newspapers like The Daily Californian, which serves the University of California at Berkeley, are cutting back circulation days and looking to trim their staff, according to the higher education news service Inside Higher Ed.
"I'm not in the job market yet, and it's affecting me, " Caitlyn Rush, a journalism advertising and public relations major, said. A planned Washington, D.C. internship at The Washington Post is "now up in the air," Rush said.
A friend working as an investigative reporter at The Washington Post was laid off and had to claw his way back through the unions to get a six-month extension, Rush said, which would have taken away her leverage in a competitive process.
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