“I Love What I Do; I Just Can’t”: Examining Job Burnout Among Generation Z Local Television Journalists

Abstract

Research shows that burnout has plagued journalists for generations, yet there is a present lack of studies specifically investigating it among journalists in television news, which still remains a vital source of news for many, and Generation Z journalists, whom scholars have pinpointed as being at risk for burnout due to their young age and lesser years of experience. To address these research gaps, this thesis – to the researcher’s knowledge – makes a first attempt to examine burnout among these two populations. Interviews with 25 Generation Z local television journalists show that most of these journalists are burned out and felt its impact on their lives at work and at home. In following the job demands-resources (JD-R) theory of burnout, qualitative data reveal that doing more with decreased resources and issues with management drained the journalists the most, while making an impact on their communities and support from their co-workers were the biggest motivators. Being transparent about stress and burnout among journalists emerged as a key approach for news managers and journalism educators to better alleviate burnout in newsrooms and prepare journalism students for their workplaces respectively. Specific recommendations from the Generation Z local television journalists for newsroom and educational interventions to effectively minimize burnout among journalists are also discussed.