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The Next Generation of Journalists: Who are they likely to be?

A Briefing Paper based on “The Future of the First Amendment,”a study for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
David Yalof and Kenneth Dautrich, Principal Investigators
This paper was prepared by Susan Philliber of Philliber Research Associates

Tomorrow’s newsrooms and broadcast studios are likely to look differently than they do today.  Upcoming journalists are much more likely to be minorities and women than other students in high school. They are eager civic participants, but they still have a lot to learn about the First Amendment and the practice of journalism

In 2004, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation commissioned a study of more than 100,000 high school students across the country.   For the purposes of this report, “young journalists” are those students who are currently involved in a student-run program with a news component (e.g. student newspapers; student magazines; student-run radio stations; student-run television stations) and who plan on pursuing a career in journalism.  Using this definition, 2% of all students are young journalists.

Who is this new generation and how do they differ from other students in their high schools? .

While the current generation of journalists has struggled to increase representation among women and minorities in their ranks, among these young people planning a career in journalism, both women and minorities are over-represented, compared to their proportion among other high school students.  Fewer of the young journalists were born in the United States.

            Given their ethnic composition, it is perhaps surprising then, that more of the young journalists than of the other students label themselves as upper income.

How are these students doing in school and in their communities?

            The next generation of journalists is making better grades than their school mates and they are more likely to be consuming news on a daily basis from all sources, including newspapers, radio, TV, the Internet and magazines.  They are joiners on their campuses, and are more likely than other students to participate in the performance arts, in sports, in debate or speech clubs and in the student council.  While 26% of the other students do not participate in any extracurricular activities in a given week, only 11% of the young journalists do not take part.

What is their exposure to and attitudes about journalism and First Amendment issues?

Journalism classes apparently contribute to exposure of students to discussions about the First Amendment and the role of media in society.  The young journalists are more likely to have experienced discussions on these topics than the other students.

Still, even these young people who plan a career in journalism do not have complete trust in the generation of news people ahead of them.  Very few of them trust journalists to tell the truth all of the time.  And, a quarter of these future journalists believe that the press has too much freedom, even though they are less likely to believe this than other students. 

While the young journalists are more liberal than the other students on issues of dissent and freedom of expression, most of them do not believe that burning or defacing the flag should be allowed or that people should be allowed to sing songs with offensive lyrics.  Most do think people should be able to express unpopular opinions, but 42% do not agree that this should be so.

While young journalists were more likely than other students to know that Americans have the legal right to burn the flag and that the courts have the legal right to send reporters to jail for refusing to reveal a news source, they are less likely to know that the government does not have the right to restrict “indecent” material on the Internet or that shouting “fire” in a crowded arena is illegal.

Implications

A very small percentage of all U.S. high school students can be considered young journalists.  While 15% are involved in journalism courses or participate in student-run organizations with a news component, only 2% are very likely to pursue a career in journalism. 

Though previous studies have shown that women are underrepresented among working journalists, the present data suggest that this trend may be changing, as more than half of the young journalists are female.  Future journalism careers also appear to have great appeal to both minority and foreign born students.  As white students and those born in the U.S. make up the majority of the student body overall, it is not surprising that they also comprise the bulk of young journalists.  However, both groups are actually underrepresented and minorities and foreign born students are overrepresented.  Holding onto these young minority journalists may be the challenge.

The field also seems to be most attractive to older students, high academic achievers and students from high income households.  In addition to being involved in more extracurricular activities compared to all other students, young journalists also participate with greater regularity.  It is promising that the brightest and most diligent students are drawn to careers in journalism.

In light of the recent investigations into the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame, involving The Baltimore Sun’s Robert Novak, The New York Times’ Judith Miller and Newsweek’s Matthew Cooper, the importance of the understanding and interpretation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as it relates to the freedom of the press is a major concern for all future journalists.  It is thus positive that nearly two-thirds of young journalists have taken classes on the First Amendment.  Conversely, it is disheartening to find that these particular students are no more likely than all other students to know how its interpretation currently applies to U.S. law.  Hence school journalism courses need to fervently address the legal limitations associated with the field in order to prepare young journalists to be able to balance their levels of in-depth reporting with their journalistic integrity. 

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