This article raises the question about how many newsroom employees are needed by 1,000 subscribers.

Another article on salary and benefit drops for graduates in journalism. 82% of the graduates in 2001 found jobs. It will be interesting to discover what the numbers for 2002 will be.

Bankrate.com has some sound advice for avoiding job scams. From personal experience, I can say that when you are desperate enough, you'll fall for a scam.

Older workers are taking "bridge jobs" to transition into retirement.

Advertising revenue is still tepid for media but the consumer is still demanding it and may be shifting the business model. "Consumers appear willing to spend proportionally more of their disposable cash to be informed and entertained, steadily buying everything from DVDs to Internet subscriptions."

Of course, if baby buggies can be considered an advertising medium I suppose anything is possible.

The Online Journalism Review has an excellent article on using the Net for research.

A valuable site for research is Gary Price's, The Invisible Web. I wouldn't rely heavily on the Net until you have experience on it. Talking to a reference librarian or buying a resource book is worth hours and hours of searching on the Net.

All students graduating with journalism or communications degrees have had a hard time finding jobs. This especially applies to minority students.

"The median yearly salary for 2001 graduates with a bachelor’s degree was $26,000." This is about $1,000 less than in the year 2000.

According to this report, the magazine economy is improving. Ad sales are headed up.

This article misses the point on "free content" and "fee content." "Fee content" simply replicates what's in print. "Free content" gives the most important writers, scholars, and thinkers an opportunity to cultivate an audience or, at least, find an audience. That is the cultural significance of the Net. Give me something new and profound and I'll pay for it. Force me to pay for the daily drivel and forget it.

More layoffs, this time from Red Herring. "It's an extremely soft marketplace out there," says chief executive, Chris Dobbrow. One important point he makes is that decisions about hiring and firing are based on current market conditions and not on what the projection will be months or years down the line. And market conditions can change quickly, up or down.

According to the latest study from Pew Research Center nearly half the people polled believed that journalists were "highly professional." However, a large segment (31%) believed the press was "unprofessional." The number one attribute news consumers are looking for is accuracy in reporting the news.

Of course, some colleges are actually putting money into these j-schools. Southern Methodist University has earmarked $18 million for a new multimedia learning experience.

Employers are being warned against over-hiring in this article from the Cincinnati Business Courier. They are being urged to build a resilient and flexible workforce. The process of hiring is going to get more efficient as employers recruit candidates with the most essential skills.

Go to July Joblog!

Back to Current Joblog!

David

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