by Laurie Chappatte
Young journalists are often torn between their passion for their profession and the challenges it presents. Illustration photo: Pixabay.
Why do 40% of journalists in France leave the profession after seven years? In an interview for the European Journalism Observatory (EJO), Jean-Marie Charon, a sociologist specialising in media issues and author of the survey ‘Young Journalists, Time for Doubt’, highlights the tug-of-war between passion for the profession and the financial and confidence challenges facing young journalists.
In his survey ‘Young journalists, time for doubt’, Jean-Marie Charon, a sociologist specialising in media issues, interviewed around a hundred journalists under the age of thirty. His aim? To help understand the evolution of a profession in which 40% of first-time press card holders have put down the pen after just seven years. Job insecurity and public distrust are among the challenges that undermine the motivation of young journalists.
What is the current picture of young journalists?
Jean-Marie Charon: It’s not monolithic, there are many different types. However, these young people are quick to think about the profession, often as early as their secondary education. Their desire to become journalists is strengthened by contact with their teachers.
Jean-Marie Charon: It’s not monolithic, it’s diverse. However, these young people are quick to think about the profession, often as early as their secondary school years. Their desire to become journalists is reinforced by contact with their teachers and guidance counsellors. Virtually all of them are good students who have passed their baccalaureate with distinction, because they are prepared for what are presented as necessarily difficult studies. Whether they follow traditional university courses or go to political studies institutes, young journalists have at least a bachelor’s degree, but more often a master’s. Most of them come from a university background. For the most part, they come from the intellectual middle classes. However, over the last decade, the emergence of sandwich courses – the opportunity to study at school and work in a company at the same time – has changed the situation, offering access to the profession to young people from disadvantaged social backgrounds.
In your survey, you note that the profession of journalist is still attractive. Yet you write that ‘doubt is a background to everyone’s experiences’. How do you explain this ambivalence?
Once again this year, journalism school directors are seeing record numbers of applicants. So the profession is still very attractive. The motivations of young journalists relate to a social role; they emphasise the usefulness and importance of the profession within society and thus differentiate themselves from their elders, who wanted to work in a prestigious and comfortable profession. However, young journalists start to have doubts very early on. They were aware that the media had become an object of questioning and challenge. This became clear during their first work placement, when they noticed the lukewarm or even hostile reception they received at certain events such as demonstrations. Other factors also fuelled these doubts…
What are they?
Journalism is a profession in which insecurity has developed. In France, around two-thirds of young journalists find themselves in this situation, on fixed-term contracts or freelance work. Some media outlets ask them to work as self-employed contractors, or even as casual entertainment workers, statuses that do not allow them to hold a press card. Doubts are therefore fuelled by the insecurity of this situation: What will tomorrow bring? Will there be work? The financial insecurity associated with this situation sometimes forces them to take on another job alongside journalism. In addition, the fact that the profession has little or no autonomy is another cause for doubt. Indeed, given their abilities and the rejection of this field by their elders, the first destination for young journalists is digital. Rehashing information already produced by wire services or social networks is a frustrating task for people whose primary ambition was to go out into the field. Finally, young journalists feel that they have to work harder than others, that they have to be constantly available: holidays, Sundays or even nights, this insecurity in terms of time weighs heavily on their lives.
Why is it that ‘(…) young journalists are distancing themselves from one form of news, hard news’?
In the 90s, young journalists were motivated to work on news stories, whether they were scoops or direct reports. Today, they never tackle them or, in some cases, reject them because, in their view, the news traps them in a repetitive job with no added value. They prefer to work in the field and to have time on their hands, which allows them to check the information, to distance themselves from the constant flow of news and to build a response to the current challenge of public mistrust. This way of working is particularly important to them. Despite the difficulty of finding stable employment, some people give up their permanent contracts when they find that they have to produce short formats quickly. So they turn to freelance work.
Can these results be generalised to other countries?
It is not possible to answer this question with any certainty, as my comparative work has not yet begun. However, while working with a Belgian researcher, I was struck by certain similarities between the two countries. The situation was repeated during a talk at the journalism school in Neuchâtel (Académie du journalisme et des médias), although the economic situation of the Swiss media is probably better than that of the French media.
With 40% of journalists leaving the profession after seven years in the job, should we fear a shake-up of the 4th estate?
In my opinion, the new social diversity present in this profession is a potential source of wealth that will enable the media to continue to play its role as the 4th estate.
How might the status of journalists evolve in the years ahead?
Two things come to mind. The first is the not very encouraging structural aspect, i.e. a reversal in the economic conditions of the media seems unlikely to me, particularly in the face of competition from platforms. The second, which seems to me to be a little more optimistic, is the way in which young people think about news and their desire for added value. Today, a number of media are doing well. In France, for example, Mediapart appeared on the web in 2008 with a desire to do longer-form journalism through investigations and reports. It has been a real economic and editorial success. However, not all journalists will be able to work in these conditions. My fear with regard to this second point is that we are heading towards an increasingly differentiated information system where, on the one hand, some young journalists, sometimes accepting less than favourable economic conditions, will do interesting work while others will focus on reprocessing content of low quality but which is financially satisfactory.
Do you have any advice for young journalists?
There are opportunities that open up as a result of specialisations. For example, some people very quickly find stability in their careers because they have developed skills in IT or video before or alongside their studies. Today, many young people want to work on issues that are important to their generation, such as gender equality, social diversity and climate change. However, they are more likely to find a place in offbeat specialisations. Editorial departments also need to adapt. There is a huge amount of work to be done in the area of management, because at present they are often insufficiently attentive to and prepared for managing teams of young journalists who have different aspirations from their elders.
This article was first published by the European Journalism Observatory on 26 MArch 2024