It was an even larger decrease than the 2,000 drop-off in the recession year of 2001. Since the census is completed as of the end of 2007, the tabulation does not include hundreds more buyouts and layoffs already imposed in 2008. The
New York Times, the
Washington Post and a host of other papers have announced news staff reductions. The ASNE census does not track journalism jobs in TV, radio or Web-only formats.
Online news employment at newspapers, reported for the first time last year, held roughly steady at 1,700. So overall it does not appear, as I had speculated earlier, that newspaper organizations are making up for print side losses with growth in online-only jobs.
This year's count also corrects a big error in over-projecting the size of free distribution newpaper staffs, which ASNE decided two years ago ought to be included. Last year's total has been restated from 57,000 down to 55,000.
The ASNE census began in 1978 as an effort to chart progress on minority hiring. (My colleague, Tom Huang,
reports separately about that aspect -- minority percentages are up slightly but the overall number is down).
Over the years, the total newsroom count has gained prominence as the best available indicator of trends in news staffing. This year, 924 of 1,411 daily papers replied to the survey and totals for the rest were projected based on their circulation.
Since a peak at the end of 2000, the newsroom total has fallen by 3,800 full-time profesionals -- just under 7%.
I just wanted to note that, as stated in the...
