Journalist statistics describe an occupation under pressure but still central to public life. In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 49,300 news analysts, reporters, and journalists in 2024 and projected 47,400 in 2034. Pew Research Center found that 77% of U.S. journalists would choose the career again, even as 42% reported concern about job security. Worldwide, UNESCO recorded at least 68 journalists and media workers killed in the line of duty in 2024.
Contents
- Employment and outlook
- Pay and industry differences
- Where journalists work
- Audience, accuracy, and trust
- Social media and newsroom pressure
- Diversity, careers, and well-being
- Safety and press freedom
Employment and outlook
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook reported 49,300 employed news analysts, reporters, and journalists in 2024. Its 2034 projection is 47,400 jobs, a net decline of 1,900 positions, or 4%. The same forecast expects about 4,100 openings per year on average from 2024 through 2034. Openings can therefore remain available even while total employment contracts, because workers leave occupations or change jobs.
BLS projected total employment across all occupations to grow 3% from 2024 to 2034. Media and communication workers were projected to grow 2%, while journalists were projected to decline 4%. BLS says a bachelor’s degree is typically needed to enter the occupation. It also notes that journalists often work full time, with nights and weekends possible because breaking news can happen at any time.
The latest national BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release in the supplied figures, measured in May 2025, counted 39,250 news analysts, reporters, and journalists. That release reported a mean hourly wage of $49.26 and a mean annual wage of $102,460. These are different measures from the 2024 Occupational Outlook Handbook count and median wage, so they should not be treated as a direct year-over-year employment comparison.
BLS identifies communication, interpersonal skills, persistence, stamina, and technological skills as important for the occupation. Those requirements fit a role that combines reporting, source development, deadline work, verification, and increasingly digital production.
Pay and industry differences
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook reported a median annual wage of $60,280 and a median hourly wage of $28.98 for news analysts, reporters, and journalists in May 2024. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $34,590, while the highest-paid 10% earned more than $162,430. The median for media and communication workers was $70,300, compared with $49,500 for all occupations.
Pay varied substantially by employer type in May 2024:
| Employer setting | Median annual wage |
|---|---|
| Media streaming, social networks, and other media networks and content providers | $77,460 |
| Television broadcasting stations | $65,670 |
| Radio broadcasting stations | $56,230 |
| Newspaper publishers | $46,640 |
The May 2025 BLS national OEWS release reported a mean annual wage of $85,470 for 613,530 media and communication workers. For related occupations, it reported $90,730 for 185,130 writers and editors, $90,060 for 91,690 editors, $96,970 for 45,500 technical writers, $86,090 for 47,940 writers and authors, and $78,720 for 21,240 broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys. Means and medians answer different questions: a mean can be pulled upward by high earners, while a median identifies the middle of the wage distribution.
Where journalists work
The BLS May 2023 industry table counted 17,310 journalists in newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishing, with a mean annual wage of $56,090. Media streaming distribution services, social networks, and other media networks and content providers employed 12,910 journalists at a mean of $112,060. Radio and television broadcasting stations employed 10,660 at a mean of $99,130, while motion picture and video industries employed 1,350.
Other industry figures show journalism outside traditional newsrooms. Colleges, universities, and professional schools employed 510 journalists at a mean of $61,010. Web search portals, libraries, archives, and other information services employed 150 at a mean of $53,210. Mean annual wages were $105,050 in scientific research and development services, $95,100 in civic and social organizations, and $92,960 in telecommunications.
The industry concentration figures add context. Media streaming and other media networks had a 5.54% share of industry employment for journalists. Radio and television broadcasting stations had an 8.74% share, and newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers had a 5.92% share. Among the listed top-paying industries, media streaming and other media networks had the largest employment count, at 12,910 journalists.
Audience, accuracy, and trust
Pew Research Center’s 2022 journalist survey found that 72% of journalists described their industry with a negative word; “struggling” and “chaos” were the most common themes. Yet 77% said they would choose journalism again. Forty-one percent had received a salary increase in the previous year, 50% said their salary stayed the same, and 7% reported a pay cut. Thirty percent said their organization was expanding, 22% said it was cutting back, and 46% said it was unchanged.
Misinformation is a defining concern. Seventy-one percent of journalists called made-up news and information a very big problem in the United States, compared with 50% of U.S. adults. Twenty-six percent of reporting journalists said they had unknowingly reported a story later found to contain false information. When a public figure makes a false statement, 64% said the best response is to report it, while 32% said it should not be reported to avoid amplifying the falsehood.
Eighty-two percent said journalists should keep their own views out of reporting. Fifty-five percent thought journalists were largely able to do so, while 43% thought they were often unable to. Sixty-five percent of journalists said news organizations do a good job reporting accurately, compared with 35% of U.S. adults. On trust, 14% thought the public has a great deal or fair amount of trust in news organizations, 44% said the public has some trust, and 42% said little to none.
Social media and newsroom pressure
Pew found that 94% of journalists used social media in their work. Eighty-seven percent said it helped promote news stories, and 79% said it helped them connect with audiences and find sources. At the same time, 67% said social media has a negative impact on journalism overall; 18% said the impact was positive and 14% said neither.
Audience politics also shaped journalists’ views. Thirty-two percent said their audience leans left, 20% said it leans right, 35% said it is politically mixed, and 13% were unsure. Seventy-five percent said political sorting of news audiences is a major problem, compared with 39% of U.S. adults. Fifty-two percent said it is not possible to report news that nearly everyone finds accurate, compared with 62% of the public.
Audience connection was stronger among journalists than among the public in the survey: 46% of journalists felt extremely or very connected with their audiences, compared with 26% of the public who felt connected with their main news organizations. That connection comes with risk. Forty-two percent of journalists experienced job-related harassment or threats from outside their organization in the previous year, and 78% of that group said the harassment came through social media at least once.
Diversity, careers, and well-being
Pew’s 2022 results show differing assessments of newsroom inclusion. Sixty-seven percent of journalists said their organization had enough gender diversity, but only 32% said it had enough racial and ethnic diversity. Forty-two percent said diversity and inclusion was a major priority. Journalists aged 18 to 29 were much more likely than those 65 and older to say their organization lacked enough racial and ethnic diversity: 68% versus 37%.
About half of journalists under 50 discussed their organization’s diversity with colleagues several times a month, compared with 30% of journalists aged 65 and older. Views on well-being also differed by age: 75% of journalists 65 and older said their job had a positive effect on emotional well-being, compared with 29% of journalists under 30. Concern about possible press restrictions was 68% among the oldest group and 42% among those aged 18 to 29.
Licensing is not widely favored by the surveyed journalists. Seventy-four percent said people should be allowed to practice journalism without a license, while 25% said a license should be required. The survey also found that 57% were highly concerned about future restrictions on press freedom.
Safety and press freedom
UNESCO reported at least 68 journalists and media workers killed in the line of duty in 2024, with more than 60% of those killings occurring in countries in conflict. The reported totals were 74 deaths in 2023 and 88 in 2022. Outside conflict countries, 26 journalist deaths were recorded in 2024, the lowest total in 16 years. Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for 12 killings in 2024, down from 18 in 2023 and 43 in 2022.
Impunity remains extensive. UNESCO’s 2024 impunity report said 85% of journalist killings since 2006 remained unresolved. That was down from 89% six years earlier and 95% twelve years earlier. UNESCO also reported 162 journalists killed in the 2022–2023 biennium; almost half died in armed-conflict countries, and 14 were women journalists. Its global repository contained 56 national safety mechanisms and at least 12 national action plans.
Environmental reporting carries additional documented risks. UNESCO reported at least 749 journalists or news media outlets covering environmental issues were attacked from 2009 through 2023 across 89 countries. More than 300 attacks occurred from 2019 through 2023, a 42% increase from 2014–2018. At least 44 journalists investigating environmental issues were killed over the 15-year period, and only 5 of those cases resulted in convictions.
UNESCO recorded 353 physical attacks on environmental journalists during the report period. The count more than doubled, from 85 in 2014–2018 to 183 in 2019–2023. Seventy percent of surveyed environmental journalists reported attacks, threats, or pressure linked to their reporting, and two-fifths of that group subsequently experienced physical violence. One-third said they had been censored, while 45% self-censored because of fear of attack, source exposure, or stakeholder pressure.