With the internet growing into America’s main source of consumed content, many feel that college degrees like journalism will soon become unneeded.
 
University of Rhode Island sophomore Kassandra Florez, who is leaving journalism, where she has been studying for three semesters, said that there were many reasons that went into her decision of changing her initial career path to her new major of health studies.
 
“I don’t know, I feel like I’m just paying money to get a degree that I’m not going to do anything in,” Florez said.  I was researching and you don’t even need a degree to be a journalist so what’s the point of going to school for journalism if I can just major in something else and if it doesn’t work out, I can still be a journalist?”
 
In a world where people seem to have less and less free time and instantaneous news is starting to lead the way, websites like Twitter and Reddit are beginning to overshadow even the greatest of newspapers. Much has yet to be seen as far as what journalism will become over the next few years.
 
URI director and assistant professor of journalism, John Pantalone said that although there is no clear cut direction as to where journalism is heading, there is definitely a future for any students looking to major in the field.
 
“The problem is that the internet has created all sorts of new competition and people have drifted away from newspapers as their primary source because it’s more convenient to just check news online,” Pantalone said. Newspapers are on the decline and in some ways television is on the decline, but what I can tell you is that there is always a need for journalism and people will figure that out sooner or later.”
 
Although Florez said the difficulty of finding a job after school was disheartening, another one of her biggest concerns in journalism was future financial stability and whether she’d make enough money to earn a living or not.
 
“It’s not going to pay me anything really,” she said. “Journalism can just be my backup if anything.”
 
Since money is obviously a huge factor in a major’s longevity, Pantalone said that students have to realize early on that they must be passionate and that they probably won’t be paid very highly, especially at the start.
 
“Be patient and pay your dues and don’t be studying it because you want to get rich,” Pantalone said. “ Journalists normally don’t get rich, even some of the ones that make it to prestigious places like the New York Times.
 
While the state of journalism is still in a state of disarray, Pantalone said that he thinks future and current journalists can and will find jobs at local publications and outlets specializing towards a specific demographic. He also said that if a student has any second guesses, he recommends they find another career path.
 
“If it’s in your gut to stay, then you’ll do it and if it’s not then you go do something else and it’s probably better off if you do something else.”