The News Changes Every Day, and the People Who Report It Change Too

My responsibilities at Mediabistro include adding job moves to The Revolving Door listings and updating the Mastheads for magazines. Over the weeks I have been here, I've noticed I've noticed a constant shuffling of staff at media companies. When I first started on the Mastheads, I didn't think it odd that there were so many staff changes at publications like InStyle, Architectural Digest, Outside, etc., because I was updating listings that were sometimes months old. Fast-forward a month, and the same magazines come across my desk yet there were still usually a couple of staff changes -- in editorial, advertising or marketing -- since the last month's issue. Now, without fail, there is at least one new change in a publication -- any publication -- every month. During my eight months at Guideposts, at least four people have left and new people have been added. Even though I’m still an intern, I’ve been there longer than some of the higher-ups and have even shown some new hires how to work the Keurig machine in the kitchen. Turnover seems to be even quicker in television news -- readers of our TVSpy and TVNewser blogs may be able to attest to that. Some days are a little slower than others, but every day there is an anchor, a reporter or a meteorologist headed to a rival station or moving across the country for a new gig. But news isn’t the only subset of the media industry to experience the revolving door effect. As discussed on PRNewser, the public relations field sees a similar event occurring in which professionals have short stints with companies before moving on to new roles at other agencies. However, this group at least seems to be figuring out why it is happening. For me, it is a little weird to see so many people changing companies and locations so quickly. My dad has worked out of the same office for the past 10 years, and my mother has done the same. In fact, other than in hospitality and retail it seems like in most other industries people stay with their companies for more than just five months at a time. As an intern, I find the high turnover both interesting and unsettling. Recently, college students and media pros were greeted with the unfortunate news that journalism and reporting jobs were the fifth worst in the world. As the industry changed and job openings shrunk, I’m now finding out that people don’t stay too long at any one company? What’s the deal? Why are people getting jobs and then leaving them? While there doesn't seem to be much insight as to why this is happening, interns can take heart in knowing that if media pros are constantly leaving jobs for new ones, companies are going to need someone to fill those vacated positions. Even if it might be only for five months. Check out my other media intern posts below or follow me on Twitter at @andandrewr. Basic HTML Can Be a Valuable Skill on a Media Intern’s Resume How to Temper the Fear of Dreaded Pitch Meetings Pack Your Bags, Journalism Majors: New York is the Place to Be for Media Jobs Until Our Education Changes, Journalists Can’t Be One-Man Bands From a Creative Writing Major to Two Journalism Internships

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The News Changes Every Day, and the People Who Report It Change Too

Andrew Russo

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Andrew Russo