Journalism School Graduates Face Fierce Job Declination

There is a very special moment in the life of every graduate, when he or she realizes, as the blank slip of paper (real diplomas and degrees, mailed out in 6 to 8 weeks) about to be handed to them, combined with an unfettered flip of a tassel and the ubiquitous toss of the graduand's mortarboard, life has them dead to rights. Sadly, it appears that Journalism and Communications majors are taking the brunt of this attack, which must be leaving them permanently concussed, because some recent graduates are still smiling.

Sure, there is a caveat to the aforementioned grinning imbeciles; they're the ones lucky enough to have found a job. Despite this, however, they are poised to earn a staggering $11,000 less-per-year than the recent graduate salary of the second lowest: the marketing graduate, who earns $41, 285. The salary discrepancy becomes even more shocking when it is revealed that the rookie journo's starting income is an increase from years before. These J-School grads seem to be taking it all in stride, perhaps because they know how lucky they are simply to have employment.

That employment comes with drawbacks, however, as substantial declinations in benefit packages were seen in '06 - a trend many fear will carry over into the '07 and '08 years. Health care and maternity leave were the areas with the most significant decrease in availability. Only 47% of recent graduates stated their employers provided basic medical coverage, which is 11% lower than in 2005.

One of the key factors to the lack of employment, gainful or otherwise, may be due to the encroachment of the Internet on typical print based journalistic endeavors. A little more than four in ten graduates report that college curriculum and class work necessitated writing and editing duties be tailored specifically for the Internet. The students' reporting is an increase of 37% from last year and a staggering 84% from 2004. Other Web based applications, such as web design and website building has seen its figures climb dramatic a 63% in one year and almost 99% in two years.

Given the unavoidable extinction of our beloved newspapers, the bleak homogenization of the magazine industry, the often nebulous zone that is the Internet and the wonderful news that the industry, as a whole, seems to be offering less jobs to graduates than it did two years ago, future journalists face an incredible uphill battle in finding and keeping gainful employment. Students lucky enough to find a job, however, report some of the highest job satisfaction in the job market. 36% of recent graduates stated they were very satisfied with what employment they could find, which is 15% higher than the previous year.

Still, '06 student enrollment did not see a significant decrease, but according to Dr. Becker, "We have just begun surveying about '07 enrollments. The report will be released next August."