Layoffs, funding cuts and digital shifts reshape local newsrooms and careers.
Recently, Arizona Public Media in Tucson laid off six employees, about 7% of its staff, and cut 11 open positions after a $1 billion federal reduction in public broadcasting funds. The Arizona Republic offered buyouts to top reporters and columnists, after parent company Gannett announced it would close the Phoenix printing plant and move production to Las Vegas, cutting 117 jobs. News Media Corp. shut down five rural papers in the state.
The cuts are indicative of a larger trend in reducing the number of journalism jobs in the country.
“It has been a terrible week for journalism in Arizona,” Hank Stephenson, co-founder of the Arizona Agenda, wrote in a newsletter titled “Bloodbath at the Republic,” published Aug. 13, 2025.
Arizona’s journalism labor market is shrinking, in keeping with a national decline in media jobs. The state’s information sector, including publishing, broadcasting and digital media, fell 2.7% over the past year, outpacing other industries, according to August data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nationally, jobs for reporters, correspondents and broadcast analysts are projected to drop 4% by 2034. The decline reflects a media economy weakened by falling ad revenue, federal funding cuts and the rise of tech platforms. “Working for a corporation that keeps shrinking is pretty demoralizing,” said Caitlin McGlade, a former Arizona Republic data reporter who took a buyout and joined the Charlotte Observer.
McGlade said her data team once had three reporters managing election coverage. Before the buyout, two colleagues left, one for Virginia and the other for Baltimore, and their positions weren’t filled. “It was just me holding down the fort,” she said.
Step into the Arizona Republic newsroom of the late 1990s and you would see reporters crammed into bureaus covering Tempe, Scottsdale, Phoenix City Hall and the Legislature, recalled Elvia Diaz, who spent 25 years rising from beat reporter to editorial page editor. “It was a huge newsroom,” she said. “It is not the case anymore.”
That contraction has reshaped career paths, especially for newcomers. Alessandra De Zubeldia, a recent graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, had hoped to work in nonprofit media focused on underserved communities. But she found opportunities in Phoenix limited. Many “entry-level” jobs require years of newsroom experience. De Zubeldia said she is open to working in for-profit newsrooms and may need to leave Arizona to pursue her career.
Albert Serna Jr., founder of the Los Angeles Center for Investigative Journalism and a Cronkite School graduate, said he saw similar challenges after earning his master’s degree two years ago. “Right after I got out of school, massive layoffs everywhere,” he said.
Serna launched the outlet to fill a gap in San Gabriel Valley coverage, calling it “a part of Los Angeles County with more people than Phoenix but no consistent investigative reporting.”
While Serna built a newsroom, others turn to platforms like Substack to build personal brands and monetize their work, according to a 2022 report by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. “In the era of the internet and influencers, it makes sense for reporters to veer away from traditional institutions to try to regain some of their own agency and build their own audience,” said De Zubeldia. “But part of what makes a newsroom is being able to bounce ideas with others.”
The report found that while Substack offers editorial control and direct monetization, it often lacks the fact-checkers or editors found in traditional media.
Whether inside a newsroom or on independent platforms, the key is to meet real needs. “Find something you’re really good at and focus on it, that will set you apart,” said McGlade. Serna agreed, adding that success depends on spotting a gap and acting quickly. “If you see a need or a niche, jump on it. It takes some entrepreneurial spirit, but it has to match what people actually need.”
Others see opportunity in journalism’s resilience. “Think of vinyl record players,” Díaz said. “They disappeared, then came back stronger. I hope journalism does the same, because the First Amendment exists for a reason.”
“I think journalism is a true cockroach,” Serna said. “Newspapers will crumble, social media sites will go offline, but journalism will live. It’ll find a way.”
* This article was originally produced for a writing course at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Published here as part of a personal portfolio.