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By Mel Rothenburger

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: Why would anybody in their right mind go into journalism?

Oct 21, 2023 | 7:35 AM

STOP ME IF YOU’VE heard this one but, in 1968, I was broke, out of a job, and had a young family to support.

I’d been fired from a Prince George newspaper after it published a photo that showed a case of beer for a brand that competed with a brewery the paper’s owner had recently purchased. Three of us from the newsroom got the blame, and the axe.

So, my family and I packed our belongings into our car and a U-Haul trailer and headed south to the Okanagan, where I made the rounds of newspaper offices.

In one day, I received three job offers. I took one in Vernon (the editor noted that one of the benefits was “free fruit in the summer”).

A year later, an opening came up at The Kamloops News-Advertiser so we made the move.

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The point of the story is that, back then, newspaper jobs were plentiful, if not particularly well-paid — I’ve got an old contract somewhere that shows my first weekly paycheque at the News-Advertiser was for $114.

Shortly after I retired from my long-time position as editor of The Kamloops Daily News, Glacier Media shut it down. I like to joke that they just couldn’t survive without me but I felt as if a lifelong friend had died.

So I have some sense of what the folks at Kamloops This Week are feeling — the loss of their paper, the uncertainties that come with unemployment and possibly loss of career.

Why anyone would want to be a journalist these days is a good question. It’s short-term work. But I have an answer.

Based on money, work-life balance and stress, journalism is annually judged to be one of the toughest jobs in the world. It’s right up there with soldier, roofer, logger, telemarketer and whale snot collector.

Journalists are also among the most disliked, usually following closely behind politicians and lawyers.

They’re paid much better now than when I started but they still don’t get rich on it. They also have the constant stress of deadlines and trying to get the facts straight. Studies show they have more mental health issues than the general population.

And loving it. Newspaper reporters and editors don’t care all that much about the money, nor the hours — they work however long it takes to get the story and the next edition out. Even unionized reporters don’t pay a lot of attention to contracts that say they should take coffee breaks and lunch hours and get overtime.

Why? Because they love going to work. Journalists live to work rather than the other way around. Few people can say that.

And when they get the big story, the one nobody else has, the feeling is like no other. But it’s almost as much fun writing about a children’s story contest, a local sports team, or a community charity, because those are the things that make a community tick.

Sadly, the opportunities to get into this difficult, wonderful, important business are becoming few and far between. Until 2016, the number of journalists in Canada was still increasing, although marginally. Even then, they numbered only a few thousand (an astoundingly small number in a country of close to 39 million); there are a lot fewer now. A study released a couple of months ago showed reporting is among the top 10 most endangered careers.

Print media are the hardest hit. Whereas newspapers were once accustomed to annual profits of 15 per cent or more, nowadays they’re lucky if they make any money at all.

When journalists lose their jobs due to shutdowns or other reasons, their options are few. Many resort to freelance work (Stats Canada shows 17 per cent of Canadian journalists now freelance) or work part-time, find temporary jobs or change careers entirely. The former editorial staff of The Kamloops Daily News went in various directions: retirement, public relations, real estate, the trades. A few lucky ones found other media work. Some left town.

The community is reeling right now over losing its last newspaper, but this is a human tragedy as well, and it’s happening more and more often. I worry about those who are soon to be out of work, and I worry about the kids coming out of J-school. They can’t just drive down the highway and find work in the next town and get free fruit in the summer.

I’m thankful I was able to spend most of my working life in “the craft,” and thankful I still have a connection to it even as I close in on my 80th year. So many others won’t get that chance.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.