More than half of U.S. newspaper jobs have been cut since 2008. A new study from the University of Kansas explores how journalists have dealt with the emotional and physical toll of unemployment and how they adjusted to new jobs and careers. Those findings likely illustrate what the thousands more journalists who lost jobs during the pandemic will experience in coming years.
Researchers from the William Allen White School of Journalism & Mass Communications replicated a study of former journalists originally conducted in Australia. In surveying more than 300 journalists who left the field, the study found large percentages of former journalists who suffered depression, shock and financial difficulties, but also significant numbers who reported relief and improved lifestyle. And the responses were highly predicted by whether they chose to leave or were forced out of their job.
