Not-So Good News for Journalism Students

Though your two favorite Paper Trail bloggers found gainful employment after graduating college with journalism degrees in 2008, 40 percent of journalism and mass communication program graduates were not as lucky, the Red and Black, the University of Georgia's independent student newspaper, reports.

Data from a survey of journalism and mass communication graduates gathered annually by UGA's James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research found that job interview opportunities, job offers upon graduation, and full-time employment levels all declined for 2008 graduates. Only 6 in 10 of the graduates had full-time employment six to eight months after graduation, study directors Lee Becker and Tudor Vlad wrote in the report. They said this is the lowest level of full-time employment reported in the survey's 23-year history.

The study also found that different types of journalism and mass communication students have felt the simultaneous collapse of the economy and their chosen industries to different degrees. Students who studied public relations encountered a less hostile job market upon graduation than students who studied print media, telecommunications, or advertising.

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