Meet 3 future journalists determined to evolve with the changing news industry

Mass layoffs, funding cuts in newsrooms and dramatically shifting public news consumption habits are among many changes to the traditional Canadian media landscape, leaving some journalism students wondering about the future as they prepare to enter the workforce.

“Looking at the layoffs in the last year, I have the thought of, ‘Why would someone want to hire me coming out of school when there are all these veteran, experienced journalists who have been laid off and presumably are still looking for work?'” said Noah Brennan, 26. 

However, the next generation of journalists are ready to adapt and find new ways to engage with their audiences, said Brennan, who’s working toward a master of media in journalism and communication (MMJC) degree at Western University in London, Ont.

With fewer local television newscasts, and social media like Instagram and TikTok becoming popular news sources, the ability to pivot between these different platforms can “create opportunities to forge a new path in journalism,” Brennan said. 

“In our program, we cover traditional news writing and broadcast video, but we also do news for social media and have the opportunity to be creative and push the boundaries of what journalistic writing and video is supposed to be.”

In February, Bell Media’s parent company, BCE Inc., cut 4,800 jobs in the second round of mass layoffs since last spring, when six per cent of Bell Media jobs were eliminated and nine radio stations were either axed or sold. 

CBC/Radio-Canada said in December that it planned to cut 10 per cent of its workforce, split between the company’s English- and French-language services. Last year, Nordstar — parent company for the Toronto Star and other newspapers — said it will stop printing most of its 70 newspapers across Ontario. Metroland Media Group also laid off 600 workers, including 68 journalists.

Federal funding for the Local Journalism Initiative ended on March 31 and there’s no word on whether it will be renewed. The program created by the Canadian Heritage ministry in 2019 doled out $50 million over five years and employed hundreds of local journalists who reported about underserved communities and issues. 

“It’s definitely a little scary,” said Emma Kelly, 21, a fourth-year journalism student at Carleton University in Ottawa. 

“There’s always that thought in the back of my head that I might work in the industry for 20-something years and then I get laid off just a few years before retirement. That’s something that freaks me out because you hear a lot of those stories.”

Although her dream is to work as a television news reporter, Kelly said she’s had to think of backup career plans to ensure job stability down the road. 

Justin Koehler, 26, is graduating from Fanshawe College’s broadcast journalism program this summer. Although he has found work at a local radio station and a broadcast gig with the London Majors baseball team, Koehler said he worries about what a journalism career will look like in the coming years.

What’s nice for new journalists is the changes that are happening are creating demand and jobs for them because the people in those newsrooms aren’t comfortable with these new ways of communicating.– Jeremy Copeland, former chair, Western’s MMJC degree program

“It’s kind of a double-edged sword. In the short term, layoffs can create more openings for entry-level positions, but it creates questions for the long term because we can’t actually predict that actively if we’ll even have a sustainable career moving forward,” he said. 

“It’s nerve wracking across the board and everyone’s still determined to do what they can to land a position, but it naturally puts a bit of a damper on morale.”

Revised journalism school programs 

Kelly said her professors have been open with students about the job market and have adapted courses so they can make good use of their journalism degrees and skills in other fields.

Western’s MMJC program is giving students practical skills and options to have careers in journalism, communications or other media industries, said its former chair, Jeremy Copeland. 

“What’s nice for new journalists is the changes that are happening are creating demand and jobs for them because the people in those newsrooms aren’t comfortable with these new ways of communicating.” 

Since starting in 2015, MMJC has focused on the current and future needs of the industry, which include short-form video storytelling and a new course that will teach students how to work as freelancers and find jobs in the changing landscape, Copeland said.

Copeland isn’t concerned about new journalists not being able to land jobs because the industry has always been ever changing and every generation has adjusted to it, he said. 

“Young journalists are getting work in doing things like social media, video storytelling and being able to do everything. These changes are disrupting people who’ve been in the industry for a long time, not making them able to keep up,” he said.

“People didn’t used to have to do everything and that’s changed dramatically, so our students are coming out being able to do different types of media and they can find work because that’s what it takes to survive out there.”

All three students CBC News spoke to said that while the presence of local news is important, it’s crucial for journalists to include social media and short-form video in that role to meet their changing audience where they’re at. 

“Knowing what’s happening in your community is huge. It’s going to impact you one way or another,” said Kelly. “Now that everyone’s getting their information from social media influencers who are just putting out information that caters to their interest, it becomes this whole domino effect of misinformation.”