ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes journalists’ perspectives on their jobs and working conditions, and compares them, where possible, over two decades of change since the early 1970s. To begin, the authors look at the reasons our respondents gave for going into journalism as an occupation. Print journalists were more likely than broadcast personnel to remember a talent for writing as a draw for journalism. Almost half of them cited an early interest in writing. A little less than 20% of broadcast journalists remembered writing as an attraction to the field. Television and news magazine journalists were a little more likely to mention reporting and newsgathering than were others in our sample. Wire personnel were followed by weekly and daily newspaper journalists, with radio being least likely to remember an aspect of reporting as attracting them.
