January 7, 2015

OVERLOAD

Broadcaster, photojournalist and newspaper reporter made CareerCast’s latest top 10 list of most stressful jobs, which came out Wednesday. That’s probably not too surprising for anyone who has worked in this industry. The top spots went to firefighters, enlisted military personnel and military generals. Broadcaster comes in at No. 7, followed by event coordinator at No. 8, photo journalist at No. 9 and newspaper reporter at No. 10.

According to CareerCast’s report:

Yes, stress can come from a variety of factors. You need not necessarily put your own life at risk to be in a stressful work environment. Tight deadlines, like those faced on a daily basis by photojournalists, newspaper reporters and broadcasters, contribute to high stress. So, too, does working under the constant scrutiny of the public eye. It takes a thick skin and keen attention detail to thrive in these work environments.

Newspaper reporter comes in at No. 10, the report says, thanks to “a negative job growth of -13 percent, an average median salary of $37,090, and faces the constant threat of layoffs.”

“The criteria we use tends to not reflect well on journalists,” said CareerCast’s Tony Lee in a phone interview. CareerCast also lists top jobs (newspaper reporter was the worst job in 2013,) and last year newspaper reporter made the endangered jobs list.

Newspaper reporter has stayed in steady spots on CareerCast’s list for the last four or five years, Lee said.

“Prior to that, it wasn’t on the list.”

Some good news — web-related jobs rank high, Lee said. CareerCast’s site explains its methodology here. And if you’re looking for a plan B, check out the least stressful jobs list. Hair stylist is in the top spot. That’s a step up from last year, when it was in the No. 2 least stressful spot. In 2014, newspaper reporter was in spot No. 8, and broadcaster and photojournalist weren’t on the list. In 2013, however, photojournalist made No. 7 and newspaper reporter stayed at No. 8.

We can probably all agree that this is a stressful profession, but what’s the most stressful part for you? Email me or tweet at me and I’ll try and gather all that stress into one post.


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Kristen Hare teaches local journalists the critical skills they need to serve and cover their communities as Poynter's local news faculty member. Before joining faculty…
Kristen Hare

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