One way to help a journalism industry in crisis

Many uncertainties haunt the field of journalism today – among them, how we can reach our audience, build public trust in our work and who is going to pay for it all. But one thing is certain: as complicated and dark as the world looks today, it would be much worse if journalists were not there to report on it.

Research shows that towns that have lost sources of local news tend to suffer from lower voter turnout, less civic engagement and more government corruption. Journalists are essential just as nurses and firefighters and doctors are essential.

And to continue to have journalists, we need to make their journalism education free.

This might sound counterintuitive, given the state of the industry. Shrinking revenue and decreasing subscription figures have led to a record number of newsroom jobs lost. Much of the local news industry has fallen into the hands of hedge funds focused on squeezing the last drops of revenue out of operations by decimating them. Billionaires who appeared as saviors just a few years ago have grown tired of losing money on the media organizations they bought. Public trust in the value of news is at historical lows, while a growing percentage of people are avoiding the news altogether.

Generative artificial intelligence, which is on the verge of reshaping almost everything around us, is bringing yet another technological disruption to the industry. Against this grim backdrop, authoritarian leaders are increasingly targeting journalists as political enemies both at home and abroad.

And yet there are still tens of thousands of jobs in news media in America, with exceptional journalism being produced every day. Some major organizations have even found ways to thrive in the digital age. Prominent foundation leaders have started an effort to pour hundreds of millions of philanthropic dollars into local journalism, and a movement has formed to push for federal and local legislation to direct public funding to news. An initiative to replant local news has founded dozens of nonprofit newsrooms in cities around the country. And a small but growing number of organizations are redefining the way news agendas are set, focusing on rebuilding public trust within small communities.

No matter how the news industry evolves, we will continue to need journalists. Successful business models for media are necessary, but the most crucial element for strong, independent journalism is the people who make it. Given the present stakes in the industry, our society and the world, we need mission-driven, imaginative news leaders who are not bound by the models of the past, who have the motivation and freedom to reimagine the field, and the empathy and commitment to serve the public interest, undaunted by attacks and threats.

We must also move beyond the lack of economic and demographic diversity that has long been a problem in the industry. News has too often been reported by predominantly middleclass, white, male journalists, resulting in coverage that has repeatedly missed the issues that are most important to the people receiving the news, contributing to the public’s lack of trust in the media.

In a resource-starved industry, few newsrooms can offer the type of mentoring, guidance and time that it takes to shape a great journalist. This is now primarily the responsibility of journalism schools. It is the civic duty of these schools to find and train reporters and news leaders, instill in them an ethical foundation, help develop their critical thinking skills, allow them to try and fail in a safe environment, open doors and provide a support network. (Journalism schools should also contribute research in a variety of areas, from the impact of AI to new business models to identifying and responding to emerging threats.)

But the cost of a journalism education has become an insurmountable barrier for exactly the kind of people we need the most. And those who, with great effort, manage to overcome that barrier, carry a weight that could limit their professional options.

Reporters burdened with debt are less likely to take professional risks and more likely to abandon the field. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median reporter salary in America is less than $56,000 a year, or about $27 per hour. In low-income areas, where news deserts are more prevalent, annual salaries can be as low as $20,000. A Wall Street Journal report about the debt-toincome ratio of alumni of 16 journalism masters programs found that many graduates leave with debts that exceed their postgraduate income.

As the dean of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, I can tell you that half measures won’t solve this quandary. My school was founded in 2006 as a public alternative to elite journalism schools in the city and it remains one of the most affordable in the nation.

Our in-state students pay about a quarter of the cost of an equivalent degree from top-tier schools with which we successfully compete. This year alone, 90 percent of our students are on scholarships, and a record 25 percent are attending tuition-free. We also waived the $75 application fee this admission cycle and saw an increase of more than 40 percent in our applicant pool.

Thanks to these policies, we have succeeded where the media industry keeps failing. Over 50 percent of our students are people of color and from underserved communities. Many couldn’t have attended our school if we hadn’t offered significant scholarship support. But that’s not enough. Though we rank as one of the journalism schools with higher-medium-income and lowermedian-debt alumni, our students still don’t graduate fully debt-free.

This is why this year, we began a campaign to go fully tuition-free by 2027. While other schools might face different financial challenges, we hope that many more will follow us.

We need journalists whose only obligations are to the facts and the society they serve, not to lenders; who are concerned with the public interest, not with interest rates; who can make risky decisions and take the difficult path if that’s what the mission requires, free of financial burden. Journalism schools can help achieve that. In tough times, it is natural to mourn the past or lament the present, but what we really need is bold action.