The career of newspaper reporter has made the top of the list for the worst jobs in North America.
Low pay, deadlines, stress and heavy workload account for the reasons the job has achieved the highest of the low rankings in a recent, multi-industry survey.
And we say it's about time.
It's about time the public realized how tough the job is and how much effort it takes the unique people doing this job to do it and do it well in major metropolitan areas and in smaller — but some would say busier — communities like ours.
Unfortunately, many potential news providers will probably now move away from this rewarding and needed career as the same survey projects that the amount of potential new reporters entering the workforce next year will drop by six per cent. We didn't need those ones anyway. You need commitment to be in this line of work.
There are some out there who may be glad to see the demise of the newspaper reporter. Digital fans will think that instant, online news accessible through a mobile phone and delivered by someone who attended the event or watched the meeting is the way to go. But think of this . . . the same day the survey was released, headlines across the US lamented that 'Citizen journalism wreaked havoc' on the Boston Marathon bombings. All those people, all those Twitter feeds, all those blog sites ... all that misinformation.
There are no regulations to online bloggers or the information 'experts' who spew their cyber news on a minute-by-minute, pixel-by-pixel basis. Are they accredited graduates of a post-secondary journalism school? Or do they just have a laptop and an opinion they want to write as news? You may as well pick up a Coffee News or a Laughable News flyer for all the actual, factual local news you are going to get.
Newspaper reporters may get it wrong every so often, but at least they are held to a level, a standard, and at the very least are associated with a business and industry that still puts a premium on content, context and fact.
It's a shame to watch the people who are the backbone of the newspaper and professional journalism industry slowly fade from sight.
Reporters may suffer from poor pay and difficult hours, but the people to truly feel sorry for are those who want continued credible, accessible and regulated news coverage.
