Over a 10-year span from 2008 to 2018 newsroom employment in the United States declined by 25%. Newsroom employees included the five major industries that produce news including newspapers, radio, broadcast television, cable and other information services.

In 2008, there were approximately 114,000 newsroom employees in these industries. By 2018, the number of jobs decreased to around 86,000 which is a decrease of about 28,000 jobs.

The steep decline in job losses were driven primarily by the loss of jobs in the newspaper employment. In this sector the number of employees dropped by 47% over the same period.

The digital news industry, by contrast, has shown employment growth. Employment in this sector increased from 7,400 to 13,500 over the same 10-year span. The increase in digital news employment amounted to an 82% increase, though in absolute numbers it does not offset the loss of employment in other sectors of newsroom employment.

With the development of new technologies, it is possible to reduce the amount of labor allocated to certain industries. However, with the capitalist economic system the reduction of labor created by new technologies leads to fewer jobs for the mass of workers.

Only under a planned, socialist economy would it be possible to rationally allocate labor and reduce the negative consequences caused by new technologies and trends that are experienced under capitalism. It would then be possible to reduce labor hours for the working class and create the conditions necessary for its further development. Under capitalism the working-class experiences precarity and reduced employment while the class of capitalist oligarchs reap the profits.

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