From Passion to Disillusionment: The Psychological Journey of Generation Z Journalists

Abstract

Background: Previous research has suggested burnout has afflicted journalists for decades. Nevertheless, studies for television journalists, who operate in a highly stressful visual medium, are understudied. Likewise, less experienced, younger Generation Z employees are also studied less, even though they will likely experience burnout quicker. This research aimed to be one of the very first to study the convergence of these two fields by exploring how Generation Z television journalists understand and experience burnout, detailing the associated job demands and resources, and proposing actions that news managers and educators can take, using the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory. The researcher semi-structured interviews with 25 (18-27 of age) Generation Z journalists in U.S. local television news. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data. Key Findings: Most respondents (23 out of 25) reported burnout as encapsulated by exhaustion, cynicism, and detachment from passions. Most salient job demands were “doing more with less” (e.g. high volume of work for low pay, inadequate staffing), poor management, and inability to isolate oneself. Most salient job resources that lessened the feelings of burnout were macro- level impact of the job, community support, and job autonomy. The attendees gave some practical suggestions for managers in the newsroom (like being open, putting mental health first) as well as educators in journalism (like being open about the industry’s realities, as well as teaching self-advocacy). In conclusion, the results suggest that the television journalists of Generation Z suffer from systemic problems in the journalism industry burnout crisis, and the problems faced by that generation of journalists compounded. The results of this study suggest that there is an imminent need for systemic, specific interventions from both newsroom managers and educators in journalism in order to assist this vulnerable generation and to ensure their retention in the industry and their talent is sustained. The industry’s future depends on this generation.