If you’re a journalist and you spend too much time listening to magazine editors talking about falling advertising and subscription revenues, or checking Columbia Journalism Review or Romenesko for updates on the latest newsroom closures, it’s easy to get discouraged about your career choice.
But now is not the time to lose heart—and in this short post I’m going to tell you why. First, though, a word of congratulations. If you’re reading this blog, that probably means you chose science, health, environment, or technology reporting as your career. So: kudos to you. It’s a noble calling and one that will only get more and more critical to the health of democratic societies as the century progresses.
In fact, the Knight Science Journalism program exists specifically to help people like you. Each year we work to introduce our Fellows to people, ideas, and themes that will enrich their work after their Fellowship year. We push them to grow and become even better at what they do. We give them time and space to add to fund of knowledge, skills, and perspective they’ll need in order to serve their audiences in the tumultuous decades ahead …