The next generation of journalism graduates is ready to fight
In a world of diminishing job prospects, AI, low pay and government hostility toward the press, is studying journalism worth it? Here’s what current journalism students think.
The outlook for aspiring journalists is increasingly uncertain.
Layoffs ripple through major U.S. newsrooms, local papers shutter at an alarming rate, politicians sharpen their attacks on the press and AI technology threatens to make journalists obsolete.
Yet, 10,073 students graduated with journalism degrees in the U.S. in 2025, according to a report by Data USA. What keeps these graduates motivated?
In this season of graduations, here’s what college journalists from around the country had to say about their career plans and their ideas about the future of the field.
Related Knowledge Center: State of the business model
The traditional journalism business model has long since collapsed, and news organizations have shrunk or disappeared entirely. While a number of promising experiments are under way, the public has not shown a willingness to buy what news organizations are selling.
Related Knowledge Center: Theoretical journalism
Journalism as a profitable product has been in decline for years, raising the questions of what the news is for and what people are willing to pay for.