Low morale -- is it common in newsrooms across America? An overwhelming percentage of journalists who participated in a nationwide cjr survey answered yes to that question. Fully 84 percent believe that poor morale is a widespread problem among newspeople. Only 15 percent think it is not.
We also asked: » Is your newsroom environment more positive or less positive now than it was a year ago? Three years ago?
Response: 54 percent declare it less positive than a year ago; only 36 percent say the atmosphere is better now than a year ago. For three years, the numbers were similar: 57 percent less positive and 41 percent better.
The journalists who took part clearly see ominous warning signals about newsroom morale, and many have strong opinions about possible solutions.
In addition to six multiple-choice questions, the respondents were invited to write brief essay answers to two open questions:
» Is good morale connected to good journalism? How?
» If you could change one thing in your newsroom to improve morale, what would it be?
We also asked: » On a scale of one to five, how positive an environment is your newsroom to work in? (1=not positive; 5=very positive)
The average: three.
» Have you ever changed jobs due to your low morale?
Response: 41 percent have; 59 percent have not.
The poll participants were given a list of seventeen factors (see bar graph) and asked to rank each on a scale of one to five as regards its power to affect morale. Three of those factors ended in a dead heat -- with a 4.4 average -- for the number one position:
- Quality of leadership
- Chance to be creative
- Editors who listen to you
THE MAIN FACTOR? LEADERSHIP
Thus, one of the clearest messages of the survey is that journalists are avid for managers who are strong and effective leaders, but who also have an open, receptive ear for suggestions that would allow staff members to do better, more satisfying work.
In response to the question about what single factor would most improve morale, Carol Stevens, deputy managing editor, editorial page, at USA Today, said she'd like to see "increased direct interaction between superiors and reporters." Lanny Larson, assistant feature editor at The Fresno Bee, wants "more meaningful communication at all levels, and an atmosphere that encourages robust discussion of all issues, even difficult ones . . . [and] more praise from the top." Ed Kilgore, sports director at WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, New York, who has been in his job for almost twenty-nine years (and who says his newsroom morale is better than it was a year ago, and three years ago), nevertheless sees the need for "more positive feedback; the ratio of negative to positive is five to one." "Let the reporter decide which stories should be done and which approach we should take," suggests Lynn Jodi Okamoto, legislative reporter for The Des Moines Register. "More freedom to be creative," she adds. "Better communication."
Carl Weiser, a reporter at Gannett News Service, wishes that management would "explain decisions more fully." Both Blair Meeks, a reporter at KPNX-TV in Phoenix, Arizona, and Jared Wadley, a reporter at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California, want "more positive feedback." Says Wadley: "If there are ways to improve a story, I want to know about them." Dan Freedman, national correspondent in the Hearst newspapers' Washington bureau, has a suggestion that's eloquent in its simplicity: "Move out uncreative time servers from critical supervisory positions."
A score of other respondents concurred -- not for attribution -- that leadership is the main ingredient in the newsroom they'd change to improve morale.
Examples:
- "Managers should make the mission clear, and make it a mission we can succeed with."
- "Morale would improve if management would become receptive to new ideas for news coverage. They ask for feedback, but never act on it. So why ask?"
- "Definitive, creative, and attentive leadership (read management) that demands the best, yet is accountable and idea/ideal driven -- that's what we need badly!"
- "I would like to see effective managerial leadership that can inspire employees to challenge themselves to be better. It's not the money, the hours, the pressure. It's the attitude."
- "Listen, listen, listen to the troops in the streets! Trust our judgment and don't second-guess us. Reporters shouldn't be swayed by managers who haven't covered a story in decades!"
- "I'd like to see a more consistent message from meddling managing editors about what constitutes the improved writing they ostensibly are trying to inspire."
- "I'd give more reporters the chance to work on enterprise and investigative stories instead of demanding too much daily copy of a beat nature. We need more positive feedback and encouragement!"
- "Managers who understand, and are capable of performing the jobs they are supervising."
- "I would like upper management to sincerely listen to and respect the opinions of others, and carry out some of their suggestions."
- "I am an investigative reporter who works on long-term projects. I want to feel that the editors know what I am doing, have questioned it, believe in it, and will get behind it."
At the bottom of our list of seventeen factors that most contribute to the state of morale were: #15, "Chance to contribute to society," (3.5); #16, "Reasonable hours," (3.5); and #17, "Status of journalism generally," (3.0). Those responses appear to indicate that newspeople are undeterred by public opinion surveys that place journalists far down the totem pole of professions that the public finds admirable; that contributing to society, or making a difference in the community are probably too amorphous as ideas to make much difference in affecting morale; and that working inconvenient hours and shifts does not loom large in journalists' minds if most of the other, more crucial elements on the list are in place.
PROFITS VERSUS SOUND JOURNALISM
The poll shows another consistent theme in response to the question of what single factor would most improve morale. Many respondents perceive a serious problem in their owners' demand for greater profits, sometimes at the expense of investing in resources to produce outstanding journalism.
John Voskuhl, assistant managing editor at the Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader, puts it this way: "I would decrease the newspaper's profit requirement -- and sprinkle a 'quality dividend' throughout three areas: staffing, training, and travel."
David E. Michaels, assistant editor on The Arizona Republic's entertainment tabloid, says: "I wish our ownership were more honest about the need to make money. A lot of changes are clothed in the 'journalism' garb, but are designed to save money. It's dishonest, discouraging, and distracting."
John Cherwa, associate managing editor, sports, at the Chicago Tribune, wishes that "staffing levels increased with company profits so as to make it seem we all have the same goals."
Other remarks, at random: "Insulate further the news gatherers from corporate budget pressures." "Greater focus on good journalism with less emphasis on greater profit and the stock price." "Reduce focus on profit and Wall Street." "Clearly, sales is first, and news a distant second."
''QUIT CUTTING THE BUDGET!''
A major, recurring response to the "single most important" query relates to money matters; budgets, resources, hiring, and salary levels. Matthew J. Nelko, a writer-editor at CBS News Radio, declares: "So many morale problems are caused by the anorexic budget the company imposes on us."
- David Hertz, metro editor at The Akron Beacon Journal: "Reduce budget stresses [and] initiate a strong mandate for innovative journalism -- something we are already trying to do."
- Susan Bischoff, deputy managing editor, Houston Chronicle: "Restoration of budget cuts."
- Sharyl Attkisson, CBS News correspondent: "Quit cutting the budget. And tell the bitter complainers to find other work."
- Charles Zobell, managing editor, Las Vegas Review-Journal: "Hire more staff."
Jane Snow, food editor, Akron Beacon Journal: "More money from our miserly, short-sighted corporate parent, Knight Ridder."
A fifty-one-year-old reporter who has worked at five news organizations and served in his current job for seven years is one of numerous respondents who insist that pay is far and away the biggest factor in determining morale. "I think about quitting all the time," he says. "I never would have gone into journalism had I realized I'd still be doing it thirty years later, with all the accompanying stress, for teachers' wages. It's too hard to raise a family this way."
Firing, rather than hiring, is sometimes the best way to improve morale, according to some respondents. At The Buffalo News, managing editor Ed Cuddihy thinks that a necessary tactic is to "get rid of folks who see journalism as a 'job' instead of a career; those who won't give what it takes, but remain envious of those who do the heavy lifting." Shaun Schafer, reporter, Tulsa World: "I'd fire the deadweights. Next, I'd shuffle the beats. Finally, I'd upgrade our equipment." Another journalist suggests: "Encourage the departure of chronic underachievers who lack the ability to perform on the same level as their colleagues, and thus become disgruntled and a burden to morale."
A diplomatic correspondent at the Los Angeles Times, Norman Kempster, says, diplomatically: "I'd fire a specific individual, but I would not care to say who." A respondent who describes himself as a Fox News Channel correspondent says that if he could change one thing it would be "my stupid copy editor." Neil Best, a sports reporter at Newsday, Long Island, New York, has not one, but three top choices to improve morale: "More space, later deadlines, more cheerful copy editors."
GREAT JOURNALISM/LOW MORALE
"Is a bluebird blue?" was one respondent's answer to the question: Is there a connection between good morale and good journalism? "Did anyone answer this question in the negative?" he wondered. Well, yes, some did.
"No!" said CBS News Radio's Matthew Nelko. "A journalist, like a doctor, is dedicated to professionalism whether he's being screwed by the company or not." Mara Lee, a regional reporter at the Dayton Daily News, recalls that The Charlotte Observer was one of the most "gripe-filled" places she'd worked at, but it was also the "highest quality" in its journalism. "Good journalism can come out of bad papers with low morale when reporters encourage each other," according to a reporter at The Columbus Dispatch. The Chicago Tribune's John Cherwa generally agrees with that. Good journalism can improve morale, he believes, but "good morale does not necessarily lead to good journalism." Ed Cuddihy at The Buffalo News thinks the importance of the connection is exaggerated, and that bad morale is often an excuse for bad journalism. "Good journalists make their way," he feels sure.
A former staff member at The Miami Herald said that the paper had "great journalism and very low morale. Editors and reporters worked hard to outdo each other, and the competitive attitude fueled story output. However, it was at quite a personal cost to the staff. Loyalty did not exist, and job turnover was high." A thirty-nine-year-old woman journalist with nineteen years in her present job agrees that good work doesn't need high morale. "Many of us take personal, not just professional pride in our work," she says, "and couldn't sleep at night any other way."
But an impressive 83 percent of those surveyed see a clear connection between good morale and good journalism. Some comments:
- Jose Fuentes-Salinas, staff writer, La Opinion: "Good morale makes a more creative researcher. The 'extras' in a good article come from extra motivation."
- Richard Roth, CNN correspondent: Good morale "allows reporters to focus on the job and not struggle with outside problems. Television is a team game. Just one person, fairly or unfairly, upsets/affects the final product."
- Eric Harrison, critic-at-large, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: "Dispirited reporters and editors are not motivated to do what it takes to produce the best quality product. Folks become more concerned with looking for other jobs and less with the job they have."
- Sarah Fritschner, food editor, at The (Louisville) Courier-Journal: "Bad morale leads to apathy, leads to less zeal to pursue quality, the extra source, the better page design."
A fifty-year-old who has changed jobs seven times in thirty-one years thinks that journalists who are "abused, burned out, and otherwise disillusioned too easily succumb to indifference. Beat a dog often enough and he'll learn not to get on the couch." A forty-six-year-old woman with nine and a half years in her current job and five other employers on her résumé says that "if your brain is beaten down worrying about layoffs, sexual harassment, or management idiocy, you are not going to be brilliant or creative in covering your beat."
And finally, a fifty-year-old male reporter who has changed jobs six times responds: "Duh! Good kick-ass journalism, good writing, good photos, good layout, good pay, good editors = happy, productive employees." *
