Hug a journalist

Journalists — the people who deliver information to you every day in every way under the First Amendment — are multitasking more and working longer hours than ever before.

These are the latest findings according to PR Newswire and PR Week, which surveyed journalists of all stripes (but mostly newspaper reporters). Consider:

• 57 percent feel they are being asked to work more today than in the past few years, while 56 percent say they are contributing to other mediums outside of their official duty.

• 67 percent of newspaper journalists anticipate “declines in print circulation and increased focus on the Web” over the next three years.

• 91 percent of respondents indicated “Make my publication successful by creating appealing content for its audiences” as the top consideration of their job.

• 70 percent of total respondents suggest that public opinion of journalists has gotten worse during the past five years.

Readers may wonder what this means. In my humble opinion, it means more stories are being covered without depth. Since more stories are being written, more mistakes are being made, which leads to further erosion in the public’s trust of journalists (which surveys also show has declined since Watergate.)

So if you see a journalist, thank them for their hard work. They may need a hug, too.