Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week and does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
While Tufts does not offer a journalism major or minor, some Daily staff members still plan to use their degrees to pursue careers in media after graduation. But recently, many prospective jobs for these students have been taken off the table.
On Feb. 4, The Washington Post laid off 30% of its staff, including all staff photographers, its books and sports sections and various foreign reporters. These cuts come at a time when publications are struggling to stay financially afloat due to the rise of the internet, a trend away from printed newspapers and a growing distrust of mainstream media.
Despite these negative outlooks, many aspiring journalists are still feeling cautiously optimistic about entering the workforce, especially with their experiences at the Daily to back them up. Their passion for the field underscores the impact of journalism and provides a positive outlook amid the uncertainty.
“I’ve been very stubborn that I want to do political journalism, and I want to do it the standard way, but I think now I’m more open-minded to exploring different paths,” sophomore Amelia Sammons, a deputy news editor, said. “I’ve definitely expanded my idea of possible careers because this threat does feel very real and very scary.”
A major challenge that news organizations are facing is a lack of stable readership. Matt Murray, executive editor for The Washington Post, shared that the Post’s online search traffic has halved in the last three years. This is due to both the rise of Artificial Intelligence and a growing preference among youth to engage with new forms of media, such as videos and podcasts.
These financial challenges are deeply impacting the industry, with over 3,000 journalism jobs cut across the United States and the United Kingdom in 2025 alone. For future journalists, the job market is an intimidating world to enter.
“After reading [about the Washington Post], I called my mom, and I was crying to her on the phone,” Sammons said. “At Tufts, we already live with a lot of pressure because everyone’s super ambitious. I have definitely been feeling a lot of imposter syndrome this semester and worrying about whether a career in journalism is still possible.”
The news market has been struggling in part because Americans’ perceptions of the media are not exactly optimistic. A study by the Pew Research Center found that 49% of Americans believe that journalists are losing influence in society. A Gallup report found that growing political polarization has also created a situation where trust in mass media is at its lowest point in five decades, particularly among Republicans.
Despite these statistics and doubts from extended family members, many students are still hopeful about joining the field during a time of hardship.
“I’ve gotten a lot of [comments saying that] I should just put my dreams on hold for later and get [a job that’s] safe,” senior Dylan Fee, former editor in chief and current executive photo editor, said. “But honestly my response to that is that with the current state of the world, nothing is super safe and stable, so I might as well just go for the hard thing.”
Traditionally, journalists begin their careers in entry-level positions at local newspapers before working their way up to larger publications. However, since 2005, almost 40% of local newspapers have closed down, including papers based in Medford and Somerville.
“The role of student journalism has changed a little bit because local papers are unfortunately dying out as an institution,” Fee said. “Sometimes even big newsrooms find more credibility in student journalism than they do in local papers.”
The loss of local news is augmented by the rise of generative AI. Many Americans are beginning to receive the majority of their information from AI summaries rather than news articles. Yet, student journalists remain hopeful that AI cannot replace a writer’s voice.
“I tell people I have so much misplaced optimism about getting a job,” senior Shannon Murphy said. “I’m just so sure that I’m gonna get a job because I'm like: ‘No, I am a good journalist. I can write … and AI can’t take journalism jobs.’ … Can AI go and interview all these people and get [an] angle and synthesize it to make it sound human? At this stage, no — and hopefully never.”
With many local news opportunities unavailable, aspiring journalists have found valuable experiences through their time at the Daily. This includes interviewing community members, editing articles and working collaboratively with other staff.
Murphy has worn many hats at the Daily, including executive social media manager, executive newsletter editor and an editor for the news and arts sections. During her winter internship at Boston.com, she was already prepared for a lot of the work assigned to her because of the skills she learned at the Daily.
“We don’t have a journalism major here at Tufts, so the Daily is the education that you get for journalistic practices,” Murphy said. “That’s really more important than anything you learn from a classroom, because you’re actually doing it. … You are … the newspaper of record for Tufts University and for this area. You’re actively doing the work.”
Murphy emphasized the vital skills she has learned in multimedia production throughout her time at the Daily. All three student journalists explained that jobs often require experience with video and audio as organizations evolve with new media. This semester, the Daily introduced “The Weekly Recap,” a podcast debriefing the written news articles from the previous week as a collaboration between the news and audio sections.
Fee and Sammons both discussed how their experiences in the news section have been particularly valuable. In the past year, the Daily has covered a variety of political topics connected to the university, such as Rümeysa Öztürk’s detainment, lawsuits faced by the university and protests in nearby communities. At the same time, Fee saw the consequences these events can have for journalists’ voices.
“When I was editor in chief last semester, I really saw [the impact] in our Opinion section,” Fee said. “One of our students was detained for saying her political opinion in our paper, and now I’ve seen a way lower number of [op-ed and opinion articles]. … It’s really hard, because you want people to be able to speak freely … but things are changing every day.”
Many of these recent trends have been rooted in the Trump administration, which has made a series of combative decisions regarding public media. On Feb. 17, CBS did not allow talk show host Stephen Colbert to air his interview with Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico due to threats from the Federal Communications Commission.
Sammons, Murphy and Fee all expressed concerns that important stories are in danger of being left untold.
“It’s a bummer that journalism is suffering, because I think it’s one of the key components of a successful democracy,” Sammons said. “It is important to be able to hold people in power accountable [and] it’s important to keep the public informed.”
With AI advancing every day, the Trump administration’s consistent attacks on the media and the loss of readership of many newspapers, the ability of journalism to fulfill its role as integral to democracy is not looking good. Even with their optimism, each Daily journalist interviewed expressed having alternative career plans in communications and other fields.
“This summer, I’m trying to look into maybe working with some representatives and getting into politics. I think I could also see myself working in communications for a politician, because that feels a little more stable, but ideally journalism would work out,” Sammons said.
These backup plans do not diminish the hope of prospective journalists. Many believe that AI and mistrust in the media may eventually push audiences back toward the creative voices of the media in the future.
“[Journalism] is swinging in one direction now where people are really untrustworthy of mainstream media,” Fee said. “I’m hoping that means that these smaller publications … will gain more traction, and people will like them more. … That makes me really hopeful, because … there’s such a trust built in local news that doesn’t exist in mainstream media.”
While these pessimistic outlooks for journalists have impacted Daily staff members, they have not dissuaded these aspiring journalists from pursuing their passion. At the same time, their idea of the future is evolving every day along with the news cycle.
“I’m deeply opposed to the idea of working for the purpose of making money. I think it is a privilege to be able to follow your passion as a career,” Sammons said. “I’m realizing maybe my optimism is a little misguided, but also I want to stand by that ideology — [that] you should do what you love.”
