A recent unscientific survey by the American Journalism Review polled people who said they had been removed in one way or another from newspaper editorial jobs last year. Of 595 respondents, they say about 36 percent found new jobs after less than three months (and the number climbs to 53 percent if you count full-time freelancing as a new job). Likewise, fewer than ten percent said it took them more than a year to find a new gig.
The bad news is that only about 6 percent went on to work at another newspaper. Everyone else found work in a different medium. Additionally, most people who reported their current and previous incomes said they took a pay cut. And, in doing this, many of them learned something:
While the overwhelming majority — 85 percent — say they miss working at a paper, they are often happier in their new jobs. Sixty-two percent tell us they had been satisfied in their old newspaper jobs; 78 percent report being satisfied in their new jobs.
This we understand — the coffee in any other type of office is better than the crap they have in the bullpen of a newspaper. That’s at least 16 percent of job satisfaction right there.
Is There Life After Newspapers? [AJC via Romenesko]
