How journalists are dealing with changes in the industry and their jobs

Journalists’ views on new trends: sponsored content and aggregation

Technology and business disruption have brought about new issues that relate to ethics and economics. The survey probed two of these in particular: the advent of sponsored content or native advertising and the issue of compensation for aggregation and curation.

First, the quest for new, more effective and more lucrative ways to monetize advertising on the web. Wherever it was headed, or no matter the shape it took, did people think what was being called sponsored content or native advertising would help content providers by providing new revenue? Or were they more likely to think it would ultimately hurt media by crossing ethical boundaries in a way that would hurt the brands that engaged in it?

Asked to choose, the majority of these journalism and communication graduates thought sponsored content or native advertising was likely to have a negative impact on the news organizations that engaged in it (59%) rather than a positive one (41%).

View	Percent
Mostly positive: It can help bring in new revenue and can be done ethically.	40.8%
Mostly negative: It crosses ethical boundaries and will damage news organizations’ credibility.	59.2%

Data Source: Question: In general, which of the following statements comes closer to your view of the practice of sponsored content or native advertising?

American Press Institute

Then we probed those engaged in journalism whether their organizations are trying some form of native advertising. By almost a two-to-one margin, those who work in journalism say their organizations are already experimenting with some form of sponsored content or native advertising, though a significant number said they didn’t know. Fully 50% of those who work in journalism say their organizations now employ some kind of sponsored content, while 27% say they do not. But almost as many, 23%, say they are unsure.

Response	Percent
Yes	50.0%
No	27.3%
I don’t know	22.7%

Data Source: Question: If you work in journalism, does your organization offer advertisers some form of native advertising or sponsored content?

American Press Institute

We also probed how people feel about aggregation — incorporating and redistributing content originally produced by others. Do people think that content producers should be paid by anyone who aggregated their content? Or do they think that aggregation helped content producers get more audience and that it was now an inevitable effect of technology?

Overall, a majority believe aggregators should compensate content producers for curating their content (57%). A significantly lower number (41%) said they thought curation was now just inevitable and it was better to have a bigger audience.

View	Percent
Aggregators should compensate journalists	57.3%
Open distribution can’t be stopped and is a good thing	41.3%

Data Source: Question: The Internet makes redistributing content from other publishers easier than ever. Which of the following comes closer to your view of this practice?

American Press Institute

Does age impact people’s attitude toward aggregation?  Not appreciably. The youngest cohort and the oldest have similar views–aggregators should compensate content creators.

	55+	35-54	21-34
Aggregators should compensate journalists	62.2%	56.9%	56.8%
Open distribution can’t be stopped and is a good thing	36.2%	41.8%	42.6%

Data Source: Question: Which of the following comes closer to your view of this practice? Good journalism costs money to produce and aggregators should compensate journalists and their organizations for that work. Or there is no stopping open distribution now and it's better to have more available to everyone.

American Press Institute

Journalists take on freelancing and extra jobs

Economists talk increasingly about a phenomenon called the “gig economy,” in which people increasingly may not work as employees but take on work by project. This has always been a part of the world of media. It has been the norm in some fields, such as motion pictures, television and documentary filmmaking, and in the last generation, for many in photojournalism.

The survey did some probing of what experience people had with freelance and other work beyond their core job. The great majority of respondents had done something (only 13% said none of the options applied). The largest group (50%) had donated skills to some charitable group, association, church or school, even more than said they had tried to build their personal brand in social media (46%). About 1 in 5 said they had done freelance work in news (20%).

Activity	Percent
Donate skills for a school, association, church or charity	50.3%
Used social media to try to advance their career	46.1%
Volunteer with a startup or non-profit	32.7%
Created their own website	27.4%
Freelance marketing / public relations	24.2%
Volunteer with a professional group	24.1%
Maintained a personal blog	20.9%
News freelancing	19.5%
Taught a course at a university or community college	12.1%
Web design / development	6.6%
None of these	13.2%

Data Source: Question: Outside of your primary job, which, if any, of the following have you done in the last five years? (Select all that apply)

American Press Institute

Of those who did freelance journalism, the survey then asked how much, if at all, they were paid. The largest group, 30%, were paid between $100 and $500. Almost 1 in five (17%) did the work for free. About 16% were paid between $1,000 and $5,000, and just under 9% were paid more than $5,000.

Pay amount	Percent
I was not paid	16.9%
$100 or less	11.8%
$100 to $500	29.5%
$501 to $1,000	11.8%
$1,001 to $5,000	16.1%
More than $5,000	9.0%

Data Source: Question: If you did freelance work, how much were you paid for your most recent assignment?

American Press Institute

We then went one step further and asked those who had done this work about their motivation for doing it. Were they trying to make new professional connections? Raise their profile? Or was it the money?

Despite the relatively low amounts of money paid, the largest motivation (40% citing it) said the compensation made the freelance work worth their time. The second largest motivation was raising one’s profile (32%), and that was closely followed by trying to learn new skills beyond what their current job offered (29%).

Reason	Percent
The compensation made it worth my time	38..5%
I wanted to raise or market my personal profile	28..9%
I wanted experience my current job wouldn’t allow	27.8%
I wanted to advance the organization’s mission	26.0%
I just had something to say	13.1%
I hoped it would lead to a paying job there	13.1%
I wanted to give back to the organization	16.3%

Data Source: Question: Which of the following were the most important reasons for your deciding to do the freelance work? (Choose up to three. Answers can tally to more than 100%)

American Press Institute