D.C., New York and LA Boast One-Fifth of Country’s Journalists
Washington, D.C. has many identities. It of course is the home to the federal government and politicians, as well lobbyists, associations and nonprofits, and the defense industry.
Plus, we can’t forget about sports and a burgeoning sports industry – it wasn’t too long ago that The Washington Capitals hoisted the Stanley Cup, and the Washington Nationals won the World Series.
Due to these affiliations within the city and neighboring areas of Maryland and Virginia, it has also been a hub not just for media and public relations, but also top tier journalism and breaking news.
Anyone remember The Washington Post’s Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward? They may have had something to do with exposing the Watergate Scandal in the 1970s.
As a hotbed for so many things, thousands of journalists have been able to call D.C. home, but according to “Stop the Presses,” a study by Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, D.C. is home to a larger percentage of journalists than ever before.
D.C., along with New York and Los Angeles, is home to one-fifth of all journalists in the United States, despite being home to just 13% of all workers in the U.S. according to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2013 to 2017.
Based on the numbers provided in “Stop the Press” there were 520,500 journalists working in print, broadcast and internet publishing through 2020.
This means that three cities throughout the entirety of the country hold more than 104,000 journalists.
Shocking?
Not really.
The news industry has been hurting for some time now; almost four decades actually and jobs will condense and migrate to where there are the most opportunities.
“Stop the Press” highlighted that “since the 1980s, average employment by newspaper publishers has fallen by 63%,” largely due to newspaper closures and downsizing.
Even despite D.C. being a prime location for journalism, just last month Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan announced that the newspaper would unfortunately be conducting Q1 layoffs.
Any layoffs don’t change the fact that D.C. will remain the political capital of the country, as its happenings impact every state in the Union. And many states, though not all, have local newspapers with D.C.-based reporters to cover the news from Capitol Hill.
At the same time, New York will remain the financial hub of the nation, while LA the entertainment center of the world.
Reporters will continue to be needed to report on these beats, as well as others – maybe just not in print. Georgetown found that “average employment increased by more than six times in internet publishing, broadcasting, and web search portals, and by nearly 9% in broadcasting (except internet).”
Media outlets will also try to adapt to the changing environment around them. The Hill for example just announced that it has revamped its print paper – “modernized for a heightened visual impact and with increased “skimmable” content for our busy readers.”
As for public relations professionals, developing earned media campaigns that are focused on D.C. reporters will also be critical to PR success, now and in the future.
Journalists from every beat imaginable – tourism, health, sports, politics, business and more – are and will continue to be centralized in D.C., offering a local, regional, national and international angle to stories.
With Xenophon located in downtown D.C., we also understand the workings of the city and journalism and can help clients achieve their communications goals.
For more information on how our firm develops earned media PR campaigns, please visit: https://xenophonstrategies.com/services/media-relations.