The Bite Back: Navigating a new era of journalism
The media industry is shifting, and former journalists are taking their storytelling skills where they’re truly valued. That's why this Substack exists.
Journalism, marketing, and social media are changing the way we consume information. For former journalists navigating life after news—you’ve probably felt the impact of this media transformation on your career, your creativity, and maybe even your identity. Maybe you’ve been impacted by layoffs or burnout. Maybe you’re trying to leave the industry or make a change in your professional life.
That’s where I found myself four years ago, when I broke my contract in TV news and quit the journalism industry. Having graduated with my broadcast journalism degree just one year earlier, I started to think about what my new career in tech sales would look like…even if I wasn’t sure yet how it would fit me long-term.
The pros of leaving news completely outweighed the cons. Double the salary, normal work hours, flexible vacation time, holidays off, a work from home job in the spring of 2021 - it was a dream. But leaving behind the newsroom and the career I’d been dreaming of for over a decade broke my heart. I felt like a failure, and I wrestled with guilt, wondering if I was giving up too soon, but really, I was just choosing a healthier path.
It’s not that I wasn’t prepared for the challenges of the journalism industry. Our journalism professors told us it would be grueling - the long hours, the burnout, the low pay. But I still committed to it because I thought I would make a difference in some way. I enjoyed the work I was doing, but at a certain point of burnout, I started to question if it was all worth it.
And when the Covid-19 pandemic and 2020 election sparked a new surge of mistrust in the media, thousands of other journalists like me started to question it too.
While I wasn’t 100% sure if sales would fit me long-term, I had an opportunity to take an entry-level role that could seriously change my quality of life and happiness (which is pretty important!), so I took it. I chose to see the sales job as a chance to better understand the corporate world and to figure out what I really wanted. The company culture was very positive, and maybe there would eventually be an opportunity to move to another role more aligned to my skill set, something in marketing, for instance.
And considering the financial and emotional stress I was enduring as a reporter while interviewing for this role, it wouldn’t have taken much for someone to convince me to take a job on the moon with all those benefits. Plus, after working in TV news for just 11 months as a multimedia journalist aka MMJ (a fancy name for juggling multiple roles with compensation that didn’t reflect the workload), reaching over 200K viewers every night, I had come to a stark realization:
Journalism has changed for good and everyone needs to adapt.
The reality is that social media and digital marketing have completely shifted the landscape, and traditional newsrooms aren’t keeping up. As layoffs and burnout persist, newsrooms are losing talent to corporate marketing teams, PR agencies, and other industries that often offer more stability and balance. There are fewer journalism jobs available and more journalists thinking about their life after news. The #HireAJournalist initiative is growing, which encourages recruiters to consider journalists for their transferable skills to PR, communications, and plenty of other job types.
It’s time to talk about how former journalists are navigating the transition from news to other industries like marketing, PR, and more. It’s time to start the conversation about how storytelling is evolving, why reporters are leaving traditional news, and how/if the news industry can keep up with this changing world.
A Muck Rack report found that 40% of journalists said they quit their jobs due to burnout in 2024. As a result, more are learning how to position their skills to get jobs outside the industry in related fields. But that transition and job search can be intimidating..and there’s no playbook on how to figure out what new career path is right for you.
So, that’s why I’m creating The Bite Back: to shed light on a new era of journalism and storytelling by sharing insights and survival tips from those who have already been through it.
Having navigated this world myself, I know it can be intimidating, and I want to help former journalists in similar positions find their voices, navigate career pivots with confidence, and build fulfilling futures while leveraging their storytelling skills. Journalism may be changing, but the power of innovative and compelling storytelling is stronger than ever—and it’s time we learn how to adapt.
- Amy Koczera, creator of the Bite Back
About the Bite Back: As traditional newsrooms shrink and social media and marketing teams grow, the Bite Back explores the implications of this new era of journalism, with sound bites and survival tips from journalists, marketers, and media professionals navigating this change.