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Findings: Reporters
Seventy percent of environmental journalists are satisfied
Despite the problems cited by the environmental journalists, 7 out of 10 said they were either somewhat or very satisfied in their jobs. Three out of 10 said they were unsatisfied in their jobs.
As might be expected, environmental reporters differed in their job satisfaction based upon such factors as gender, place of employment, years in the business and salary.
Men were more satisfied than women, with 72 percent of the men saying they were either "very" or "somewhat satisfied" compared to 67 percent of the women.
Environmental reporters with more than 10 years of experience were the most satisfied (76 percent) and those with 1 to 5 years of experience were the least satisfied (66 percent). Environmental reporters making $30,000 to $40,000 a year were the most satisfied (80 percent) while those making $20,001 to $30,000 were the least satisfied (64 percent).
Journalists working for magazines were the most satisfied media group (79 percent), followed by newsletters (74 percent), television stations (70 percent) and newspapers (66 percent). The least satisfied group of reporters were journalists at radio stations (63 percent).
Who are environmental reporters?
The survey provided information on the gender, education, age, experience as an environmental journalist and reporters' educational backgrounds.
The "average" environmental reporter in 1996 is 40 years old with 69 percent of the journalists between 31 and 49 years of age. They ranged from 19 to 73 years old.
Some 64 percent of the reporters are male and 36 percent are female.
As a whole, environmental journalists are well educated. Some 42 percent have a bachelor's degree, 35 percent have a master's degree and 2 percent have PhDs.
More than half (51 percent) had communication-related degrees in such fields as journalism or English.
Some 12 percent of the reporters had degrees in scientific or environmental science fields, such as biology, forestry or environmental science.
Other degree areas included government-related (13 percent), liberal arts (8 percent) and "other" (17 percent).
Some 40 percent of the environmental reporters had between one and five years' experience on the beat, while another 54 percent had more than six years on the beat.
More than 4 in 10 of the environmental reporters had received formal training in environmental journalism at conferences, workshops or seminars. Some 33 percent say they have been to conferences or workshops sponsored by the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Of the journalists who believe there is a need for more training for environmental journalists, 74 percent say there is a need for more workshops or seminars, 40 percent say there is a need for more courses at universities and 39 percent say there is a need for a good textbook on environmental reporting.
findings: reporters