Biggest Points of Pain (and General Annoyances) for Journalists

We’ve already touched on a few, but it’s worth exploring in more detail to better understand the current mindset of journalists. Declining circulation and advertising revenue has long wreaked havoc on staffing and resources for traditional news organizations, and the events of 2020 didn’t help matters. Downsized news crews scrambled to cover world-changing, emotionally-charged and, at times, head-scratching events while making sense of conflicting data and opinions.

Journalists faced increased public pressure to cover opposing sides of polarizing issues equally, and there was no shortage of them. COVID-19 beckoned headlines 24/7/365 on everything from lockdowns, overrun hospitals and vaccine trials to spectator-less sports and toilet paper shortages – creating the perfect recipe for fatigue for 37% of journalists.

At the same time, racial injustice protests erupted across the U.S. and in markets around the world in a poignant show of solidarity. Amid time and space constraints, around 1 in 7 journalists said they struggled with thoroughly addressing racial inequality issues in news stories as they strove to give a voice to communities that needed to be heard.

And then there was the political arena and, along with it, the ongoing battle of distinguishing fact from fiction and keeping bias at bay. A tall order in a precarious time made even more difficult with many sources working remotely.

Did you struggle with any of the following in 2020? Check all that apply.

When asked to identify the biggest challenge for journalism in 2020 in their own words, journalists shared the following:

Ongoing lies about fake news, attacks on press freedom, blurred lines between news and commentary…
The need to provide constant COVID-19 news coverage at the expense of other topics.
Maintaining mental health and well-being while still being productive/functional during a pandemic.
Staffing and declining ad revenue.
Proving the value of good journalism to the general public and why they should pay for it.
Access to the primary sources of my articles was severely hampered by COVID. Everything else is a distant second.
Given lockdowns and working by phone at home, journalists have lost touch with people – too much coverage comes from official sources with less scrutiny and testing premises with real people.
Everyone is trying to convince others to feel the way they feel, think the way they think. I miss just the facts and hope to provide more of that in 2021. I’m not here to get people to think like me.