Layoffs. Ads and clicks diverted to combative tech giants. Rising uptake of generative AI. Political backlash. Shrinking newsroom budgets. More layoffs. 

These are some of the sobering industry realities Australia’s next generation of journalists are facing – but those speaking with PIJI remain eager to jump into the fray.

Curtin University final-year journalism and film student Connor Kidd admits he is worried about his future as a journalist.

He says the potential threat of losing jobs to AI, high-profile political attempts to silence journalists and a rising tide of disinformation make for a worrying landscape. 

But Kidd says his cohort remains hopeful and determined as they prepare to launch their careers. 

“When people in power are trying to stop you holding them to account, that is almost exactly the time that you need to hold them to account,” he says. 

“People need to know about what’s going on to be able to participate in democracy.” 

Adelaide University final-year journalism student Mia Handley is excited to start her career in an industry she says is an important conduit of objective facts that allow people to come to their own conclusions. 

She says journalism students are aware of tough industry conditions thanks to news reports and occasional ‘warnings’ received during classes. 

PIJI recorded about 200 newsroom, masthead and station closures across Australia between 2019 and 2024; that figure does not fully include all titles lost to mergers or acquisitions, or the number of titles that became ‘ghost mastheads’.  

While some titles marked as closed by PIJI have since reopened, or were replaced, there have been further industry contractions since PIJI stopped keeping track. 

Recently, this included regional TV broadcaster WIN’s closure of four newsrooms across New South Wales and Queensland, and job cuts across Southern Cross Media and Nine Entertainment. 

Handley considers the enforcement of the News Media Bargaining Code, which the government is attempting to bolster with the proposed News Bargaining Incentive, key to future job availability.

She acknowledges some of her fellow journalism students are stressed, or even scared, about their future job prospects.  

But she says she has a more hopeful outlook, confident that the variety of skills and contacts gained throughout her studies will ensure she won’t be left “stranded” after graduation. 

“People seem to be quite doom and gloom about [a future in journalism], but I don’t think it’s actually as bad as some people seem to think.” 

Handley and Kidd hope upcoming industry placements arranged through their universities will provide job opportunities as they near the end of their studies. 

Importance of mentorship 

Curtin University journalism lecturer Sarah Taillier tells PIJI her students are hopeful and realistic. 

“They’re entering [the profession] with open eyes,” she says. 

“They know the industry is changing rapidly, whether it’s because of technology, whether it’s AI, or shifting business models, but what encourages me is that they’re really adaptable.  

“The students … care deeply about storytelling and public interest journalism, and they’re willing to learn new skills to make that work.” 

Technological advances and digital channels may be driving the biggest changes in the industry, but Taillier says this makes human skills – such as news judgment, information verification and trust-building with sources and audiences – more important. 

Experience outside of the classroom for new journalists is “essential for the future health of Australian journalism”. 

“They need opportunities to practice, to make mistakes, to learn from experienced journalists, to develop their craft, and to be in a newsroom to understand the experience and what’s really required of them,” she says. 

“The mentors that we really value are the ones who are still really passionate about their work and able to deconstruct what they’re doing … being able to also step back and remind all upcoming journalists that the basics still matter.” 

Taillier says although areas with larger cohorts may struggle to find enough placements, there are plenty of placement and entry opportunities across Perth and Western Australia’s regional and remote areas. 

In Australia’s east, the Rural Press Club of Victoria launched a mentoring program last year, with two successful applicants currently each teamed up with a senior reporter. 

Rural Press Club of Victoria president Kellie Lazzaro says the organisation decided to offer the program so journalists working in the state’s shrinking regional media industry could have access to editorial guidance that would allow them to continue and expand their careers. 

“Some of us who’ve worked in the industry for a long time can recall having daily face-to-face feedback and instruction in a newsroom, and I don’t know whether that’s as common anymore as newsrooms shrink,” she says. 

“There can be a lot of journalists working for regional newspaper outlets … working solo in remote locations; it can be lonely, it can be isolating, but it can also just be really, sometimes, a bit overwhelming.  

“So I think mentoring is particularly beneficial for regional and rural journalists who are working largely alone and don’t have daily access to really experienced help.” 

Having received interest from a “competitive field” of applicants during last year’s mentoring program application process, Lazzaro says the Rural Press Club of Victoria will open another round of applications later this year. 

– Sezen Bakan