New York Times: early burnout risk for young Online news journalists

If you’re feeling the strain from constant deadlines and draining every resource you have to find something new to break to your readers, you may take some solace from the fact that you are far from alone.

When the Washington-based Politico’s two top editors sent their reporters an email on April Fools’ Day last year saying that they would be required to start at 5am, not everyone saw the funny side, reports The New York Times. One girl even started crying.

This, says the report, is just one indication of the early burnout that young journalists can suffer in the online news business where, they say, the pressure of meeting a deadline for a paper can now be felt at any point of the day where the emphasis can be on getting something out as fast as possible before your rivals get the scoop.

It describes how the vibe of the newsroom is now “frantic and fatigued” with young reporters chained to their computers, rather than living the romantic notion of travelling the globe in pursuit of a story, to write articles that will “impress Google algorithms” and “draw readers their way”.

Like with The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times displays a “most viewed” list on its home pages. Some media outlets, including Bloomberg News and Gawker Media, now pay writers based in part on how many readers click on their articles.

It’s perhaps a familiar tale of woe and one that adds fuel to the fires of those who argue that journalism quality will suffer as focus shifts to the numbers rather than the stories.

But, as Politico’s Editor-in-Chief John F. Harris told The New York Times: “Everybody in the audience is his or her own editor based on where they want to move their mouse or their finger on the iPad,” said the editor in chief, John F. Harris. “And if you’re not delivering to that reader, you’re going to lose them.”

Politico may not be a harbinger but when next you feel your head dropping towards your chest as you rush to break the latest news, you can at least stop and think - to borrow a phrase from our new Prime Minister - “we are in this together”.

(With thanks to Heather Chin for link)