Young journalists in Switzerland: Results of a survey on aims, working conditions, and future prospects of journalists born in 1990 or later

The study examines the job situation of young journalists in Switzerland. For this purpose, an online survey of 195 journalists in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland born in 1990 or later has been conducted, providing data on socio-demographics, educational situation, career choice motives, type of employment, salary, working time, stress situations, job satisfaction, and future prospects. Young journalists have chosen their job mainly for reasons of self-fulfilment, but idealistic motives are also widespread, while material gain and status play no role in their career choice. A majority of the respondents are permanently employed in a full-time or part-time position, and the median gross monthly income is between 5000 and 6000 Swiss francs, with large differences depending on media and employment type. A high degree of autonomy is perceived at work. However, many young journalists work overtime, and two thirds state that they experience stress at work. They criticise insufficient financial resources and see the acceleration of work processes as a threat. Overall, job satisfaction of young Swiss journalists has decreased compared to previous studies. Respondents are rather pessimistic about the future of journalism, and a majority considers it unlikely that they will work as journalists for their entire professional life.