From the Classroom to the Newsroom: Professional Development in Broadcast Journalism

Abstract

Journalism educators expend vast intellectual, financial, and time resources preparing students to enter the field. But what happens to the professional educational process of these students once they become full-time journalists? Despite studies showing that newsroom employees cite opportunities for professional training and development as a key factor contributing to their job satisfaction,¹ most news organizations spend only a fraction of their budgets—if that—on professional development.² Could this widespread inattention to the professional development of the industry's “knowledge workers” be contributing to a burnout of some of journalism's best and brightest? This study contrasts the perceptions of broadcast management, represented by a sample of news directors, with broadcast news employees, represented by the producers, and finds significant differences in the two groups' beliefs as to the availability and importance of company-sponsored professional development.