Newspaper journalists in fellowships down, freelancers up
Posted by Simon Day on May 18, 2009 at 9:25 AM
The newspaper industry's employment woes have levelled a blow against journalism education in the United States, as journalists are unable to take university fellowships, because papers cannot afford to give writers time off and writers cannot afford to take time off, The New York Times reported Sunday.
Newspaper journalists formerly took the majority of academic fellowships, and although this number has seen decline in recent years, the selections for the coming academic year see the a drastic disappearance of newspaper-based journalists. The programmes at Harvard, M.I.T., Stanford and the University of Michigan last year took 29 U.S. newspaper employees, this year the number is just 11.
Newspaper journalists formerly took the majority of academic fellowships, and although this number has seen decline in recent years, the selections for the coming academic year see the a drastic disappearance of newspaper-based journalists. The programmes at Harvard, M.I.T., Stanford and the University of Michigan last year took 29 U.S. newspaper employees, this year the number is just 11.
However, applications for programmes for the next academic year at those universities increased by 62 percent, with around 600 applicants. The programmes are growing in popularity as journalists fail to find regular work and new media receives traditional recognition. Positions formerly reserved for newspaper staff are now being swooped by freelance writers, online media staff and overseas journalists, according to The Times.
"When the economy goes down, our applications go up somewhat, but this year the pool almost doubled," James R. Bettinger, director of the John S. Knight Fellowships at Stanford, told The Times. "The proportion of applicants from daily newspapers this year was the lowest it's ever been. At the same time, 61 of 166 applicants had the word 'freelance' somewhere in their job description."
Fellowships provide a scholarship that allows the fellow to attend university and pursue research or travel, with the original employer's continued promise of a job to return to and ongoing health coverage.
To compensate, the fellowships have become more generous, increasing studying salaries to upwards of US$60,000 at the top programmes, financing living expenses and offering health insurance.
However the programmes are no longer able to attract newspaper based journalists due to a lack of future financial certainty.
"People are afraid that if they leave, at a time when newspapers are laying people off, their jobs won't be waiting when they come back - and they're right to think that," Charles R. Eisendrath, director of the Knight-Wallace Fellows at Michigan, told The Times. "The fall-off in newspaper applicants is disproportionately from the big corporations, the big and medium-sized papers, where most of the layoffs have been. The smaller ones are still enthusiastic contributors to fellowship programmes."
"When the economy goes down, our applications go up somewhat, but this year the pool almost doubled," James R. Bettinger, director of the John S. Knight Fellowships at Stanford, told The Times. "The proportion of applicants from daily newspapers this year was the lowest it's ever been. At the same time, 61 of 166 applicants had the word 'freelance' somewhere in their job description."
Fellowships provide a scholarship that allows the fellow to attend university and pursue research or travel, with the original employer's continued promise of a job to return to and ongoing health coverage.
To compensate, the fellowships have become more generous, increasing studying salaries to upwards of US$60,000 at the top programmes, financing living expenses and offering health insurance.
However the programmes are no longer able to attract newspaper based journalists due to a lack of future financial certainty.
"People are afraid that if they leave, at a time when newspapers are laying people off, their jobs won't be waiting when they come back - and they're right to think that," Charles R. Eisendrath, director of the Knight-Wallace Fellows at Michigan, told The Times. "The fall-off in newspaper applicants is disproportionately from the big corporations, the big and medium-sized papers, where most of the layoffs have been. The smaller ones are still enthusiastic contributors to fellowship programmes."
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