A record number of Americans are quitting their jobs, and that includes people in newsrooms. At the same time, media outlets are working to be more diverse and more inclusive. One way to do that is by realizing that not every reporter will follow the traditional “journalism school to elite internship to full-time journalism” path. And even if they do, they won’t necessarily jump from outlet to outlet in a linear fashion.
For the reporters and editors who have left journalism only to come back a few years later, they’re often happier for it. The experience has clarified their values and their deal-breakers. They know how far they’re willing to go for journalism and when the industry has simply crossed a line. And that’s a lesson perhaps all of us can learn.
