We have been snickering to ourselves around the office, ever since careercast.com issued its latest list of the best and worst jobs in America April 24.
Last on the list this year, at number 200, newspaper reporter, just behind lumberjacks (199) enlisted military personal (198), oil rig workers (197), and actors (196).
The rankings are decided in part by career prospects, physical demands, income levels, and work environment; all good standards to use when evaluating a profession.
In our case, tight budgets, multiple deadlines, dim earning prospects and ongoing pressure from citizen journalists who do what we do for free are all listed as negatives, and they are.
Still, it could have been worse, we think.
Commercial fishing did not even make the list although sewage plant operators (87) and nuclear decontamination workers (65) did, ahead of lawyers (117), and firefighters (167).
We imagine careercast.com put a lot of effort into their list and it makes for an interesting read, but as a guideline for deciding what profession to pursue, its one size fits all approach doesn’t fit well at all.
They rank police officers at number 166, but that doesn’t account for people who like dealing with people, serving the public, are comfortable with authority, and taking on a different challenge every day. For people like that, law enforcement might just be the thing.
Likewise if you’re wild about the woods, a whiz with a chainsaw and don’t mind risking life and limb on a daily basis, you may have the stuff to be a top shelf lumberjack and who cares what some so-called career expert has to say?
Likewise, newspaper journalism isn’t a trade for everyone, and the pundits have been writing the obituaries for newspapers since television was invented, but we have faith in our trade and our medium.
We are in a time of great change in our industry and yes, it is entirely possible that one day in the not-too-distant future, newspapers as we know them today could go away. Given the way technology has changed in the last 10 years we dare not hazard a guess at what the next 10 years holds.
The bottom line is, for all the crap our profession attracts, both deservedly so and otherwise, we trade in information and people are always going to want to know.
Informing the public of the goings on of the government and recording the events of our community for posterity is a vital service; one we are happy, and honored to provide.
