We know why journalists leave the profession. A new study looks at why they stay

“Joy” may not be the first word that comes to mind when you think about journalism. In some ways, that makes sense: Journalists report emotionally exhausting stories, manage the at-times hostile audience members, and navigate long working hours.

Recent academic research has explored much of that. But we’re missing something essential in all of that research — often, the people studied are still working in journalism. So in a recently published study in Journalism Practice, Dr. Claudia Mellado — a professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile — and I explored the mirror phenomenon: What brings journalists joy in their work. Perhaps more important than why journalists leave is understanding what encourages journalists to stay.

For Regine Cabato, a Manila-based reporter for The Washington Post, it’s joy, reflected daily in the opportunity to serve her audience through stories:

“What awes me the most is the power that storytelling has…I once did a light feature on inmates who went into art, because I felt it was important to show what rehabilitative justice could do at a time when people wanted suspected criminals dead right away. After the story ran, the government bureau official told me that sales for the paintings spiked — which meant the inmates were also able to send money to their families. Knowing what a story might mean to someone is what truly gives me joy, and it powers me through bad days.”

In our study, Claudia and I found that journalists found joy in exercising service-oriented roles of journalism and in opportunities for camaraderie. The study draws on interviews with 20 journalists across the United States who were asked about the joyful experiences in their news work. The journalists worked in a range of mediums and beats at outlets including The Charlotte Observer, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Robesonian, FanSided, and ESPN.

Journalists found joy in developing genuine emotional connections with their audience. They reflected on the incredible amount of trust their audience granted them in the interview process — and they didn’t take that trust for granted. As one put it, “You’re telling me your life story and you’re just going to have to trust me that I’m going to get it right, that I’m going to tell it well.”

The day-to-day work of news, journalists reminded us, was the opportunity to learn for a living. And what they learned often reminded them that humanity offers stories of conflict, yes, but also stories of forgiveness, gratitude, compassion, and generosity.

“There are stories that motivate you to be generous,” one journalist told us. “I think you can’t be in this business unless you are generous, empathetic, wholesome. You have to understand where people are coming from in order to connect them to your audience.”

The joy of journalism wasn’t just in the work, but also in their workplace. Journalists shared with us the joy of the camaraderie they enjoyed in their workplace, which offered them emotional support in reporting the heavy stories and amplified their happiness in the light stories.

One sports journalist described the bond he shared with his team, noting: “I think that’s one of the things that makes the job fun. We argue about sports. I’m in a chat group…where I was in there arguing about all kinds of sports, and we’re just laughing.”

Journalists also recalled stories they had worked on that lingered with them years after they published.

“People are crazy. I mean, remember the woman that glued her hair…So there are also local stories that are humorous. Of course, they’re a little light-hearted. Those are the fun stories to do.”

Not all stories are light-hearted, but journalists can still find a measure of joy in even the darkest stories.

The New York Times faced a daunting task in the wake of the World Trade Center attack on September 11: responding to a tragedy that was international but also deeply local to New York City. In the absence of complete lists of the missing, the Times told the stories of more than 2,400 victims of the terrorist attack. Gathered later into the collection “Portraits of Grief,” the 200-word vignettes were driven by interviews with close friends and family, highly anecdotal, and all emotionally moving.

Looking back on her newsroom’s response to that day, reporter Janny Scott noted in the introduction to the Portraits of Grief collection: “There was something uplifting about it, too. One reporter who had lost a cousin in the attacks found that interviewing other families enabled her finally to face her own loss. When her stint [writing for Portraits of Grief] was done, she asked to stay on. She ended up writing up profiles for months, finding strength in the courage of strangers on the other end of the line…there was something mysteriously inspiring about the portraits: all those affectionately recounted stories, acts of kindness, expressions of love.”

The study is available at Journalism Practice. An open access preprint is here.