Could Journalists Be Replaced With PR Pros?

Journalism’s long, slow death knell continues.

A recent feature on Yahoo Education lists journalism as an “endangered career.” Its replacement is good news for PR pros.

Public relations jobs are expected to jump 23 percent from 2010-2020, while journalism jobs are expected to fall eight percent. Yahoo contends that PR specialists will replace reporters sometime in the near future.

Nick Gidwani, founder of online education site SkilledUp, explained the trend to Yahoo:

The raw proliferation of media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit, in addition to the typical news outlets, has made the job of the PR specialist that much more difficult. As a result, PR is one area that is really growing.

He added that reporters have started doing a lot of work for free online.

A list of the best and worst jobs of 2013 from career website CareerCast.com further documents the somber state of journalism. Public relations executive ranks No. 74 on the list, while broadcaster and photojournalist rank near the bottom of the 200 jobs listed. Newspaper reporter was dead last.

 Before you go into full mourning for reporters, you may want to consider the source here. This isn’t the first time Yahoo has predicted the death of journalism while suggesting public relations as an “alternative career.” Back in May, the site ran a nearly identical article.

So, are the article’s predictions accurate, or does Yahoo Education hate journalism? Have at it, conspiracy theorists.
-Kevin Allen, Ragan's PR Daily