____________________________Sections / Links______
_______________________________________________
Results
To replace missing values in the data set of 770 respondents, mean substitution was implemented but no more than 1 percent of any variable was replaced during this process.
Descriptive statistics determined that the average age of the 770 respondents was 41.6 years with an average of 17.8 years of journalism experience. The average salary was $48,493 and the average circulation size of their newspapers was 183,500. A large majority of the respondents were Caucasian (90.9 percent), 57.6 percent were male, 59 percent were married, 49.7 percent had children and on average they worked 45.7 hours per week. Of the respondents, 648 provided their job title. To better establish overall trends, job titles were collapsed into larger categories. For instance, a business reporter was not distinctive from a general assignment reporter. Reporters (44.8 percent) made up a majority of the respondents, followed by news editors (23.5 percent), copy editors/page designers (13.6 percent), executive/managing editors (9 percent) and photographers (6.6 percent).
To answer RQ1 (see Table 1), descriptive statistics were utilized to analyze the MBI-GS data to determine the rate of burnout among journalists. According to the MBI-GS, a mean score greater than 3.2 indicates high levels of exhaustion, a mean score greater than 2.2 indicates high levels of cynicism, and a mean score less than 4 indicates low levels of professional efficacy (Maslach et al., 1996). Journalists in this study indicate moderate rates of exhaustion (2.92) and professional efficacy (4.90), but high rates of cynicism (2.63). To summarize, journalists are suffering from moderate rates of exhaustion but high rates of cynicism. Efficacy, which is connected to job satisfaction, is also at a moderate rate.
To examine RQ2 (see Table 2), which inquires about differences in job title and burnout, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized. Journalists were divided into five groups – reporters (n=290), news editors (152), executive/managing editors (58), copy editors/designers (88) and photographers (43). Because of the homogeneity of variance assumption violation (i.e. unequal group sizes), comparison of means was performed using the Games-Howell approach, which is a liberal post hoc test that allows for differences between groups to be significant more easily than other post hoc tests. The results indicate significance between the groups on two of the three MBI-GS subscales – cynicism and professional efficacy. For cynicism, there were significant differences between copy editors/page designers and executive/managing editors, F (4, 643) = 3.26, p < .05. The results indicate that copy editors/page designers report higher rates of cynicism than executive/managing editors. As for professional efficacy, there were significant differences between reporters and news editors, F (4, 643) = 4.29, p < .05, and reporters and executive/managing editors, F (4, 643) = 4.29, p < .01. Results indicate that news editors and executive/managing editors report higher levels of efficacy than reporters.
In determining if journalists at lower circulation newspapers reported higher rates of burnout than those at larger circulation newspapers, an ANOVA was used to examine H1. The newspapers were divided by circulation into three relatively equal groups: small (38,000 and below), medium (38,001-190,000), and large (190,001 and above). Results indicate that there are significant differences on the exhaustion subscale among the three groups, F (2, 612) = 4.79, p < .01. Journalists in the small circulation group reported higher levels of exhaustion than those in the largest group. However, there were no significant differences between the groups and the subscales cynicism and professional efficacy. Therefore, H1 was partially supported.
In examining H2 (see Table 3), which states that younger journalists will report higher levels of burnout than older journalists, an ANOVA was implemented. The journalists were divided into three relatively equal groups: 34 and younger, 35-48, and 49 and older. Results indicate that there were significant differences between the groups on the subscale exhaustion, F (2, 676) = 9.80, p < .001. The journalists in the 34 and younger, and 35-49 age groups rate significantly higher on exhaustion than those in the 49 and older group. There were not differences between the groups in the other areas, thus H2 was partially supported.
An ANOVA was used to examine H3, which states that journalists who express intentions to leave newspaper journalism will have higher rates of burnout than those who are not intending to leave. When the journalists were asked if they had intentions to leave newspaper journalism, 25.7 percent answered “yes” and 36.2 percent answered “don’t know.” Journalists who expressed intentions to leave the profession had significantly higher rates of exhaustion than those who did not intend to leave, F (2, 671) = 67.81, p < .001. Those intending to leave also had significantly higher rates of cynicism, F (2, 671) = 66.35, p < .001, and lower rates of professional efficacy, F (2, 671) = 19.28, p < .001. Therefore, H3 was supported.
Further examination reveals that 31 percent of young journalists (34 and younger) expressed intentions to leave the profession, and 43.5 percent answered “don’t know.” Additionally, for those between 35-48 years old, 25.9 percent said they intend to leave journalism and 42.9 percent answered “don’t know.”
For those who expressed interest in leaving newspaper journalism, a follow-up question asked: “If you are intending to leave newspaper journalism, what would be the reason(s) for leaving?” Of the 223 journalists 34 and younger who said they intended to leave or answered “don’t know,” 36 percent said money or salary was the reason, 27 percent said hours or schedule and 19 percent said stress or burnout. Also, a reference to family life was mentioned in 13 percent of the responses.
Many of the responses listed several reasons for possible leaving the profession. A 30-year-old man said, “To find a better paying job – or a less stressful job that allows more time for my personal life, even if it pays less money.” A 26-year-old woman said, “It’s too stressful, doesn’t pay enough and isn’t satisfying.” Another 26-year-old woman said, “The loooow pay, late hours and lack of perks, few awards, no cash bonuses, work through blizzards when any other city worker stay home really gets to you after awhile.” And a 25-year-old man said, “Tired of the hours, lack of pay, work overload.”
Some journalists said there were several stresses contributing to their displeasure with the profession. A 26-year-old woman wrote, “I mostly have only a professional life, and I work in a bureau with very few people. Plus, it’s incredibly stressful trying to write well all the time.” A 30-year-old man wrote, “Stress, not having adequate human and technological resources for work demanded of me, tired of being stuck indoors all day, tired of deadlines, tired of tired news.” A 27-year-old man said:
The majority of mainstream coverage is frivolous and mind-numbing. It seems we’re intentionally trying to dumb down the public, rarely tackle real issues that make a difference or expose deceits of authorities. . . I feel my soul being drained every day. . . And as soon as the right opportunity presents itself, I’m outta here!
A 27-year-old woman wrote, “It’s an environment where everyone is under constant stress and I think it’s very unhealthy for me both mentally and physically.” A 30-year-old woman wrote, “If I were to leave, I think it would likely be due to continuing pressures to produce more with less resources and less support.” A 27-year man wrote, “My family life has suffered tremendously. I have almost no free time outside work.” A 33-year-old man wrote:
Poor quality of assignments, lack of planning ahead on management decisions, poor hours, no investment in technology, no recognition from upper management combined with no information provided to employees, lack of job security. . . no vision on the future of newspapers.
And a 26-year-old female wrote:
Bad pay; bad hours; not enough co-workers on the copy desk; city desk or sports desks to help read and design; favoritism; bad software; not enough reporters to cover events; no bonuses; bad attitudes due to stress; people with less experience can be promoted; people who are strong and outspoken are treated differently and badly; people who "kiss ass" are treated with respect and work is never distributed equally.