Q&A with journalism burnout researcher, Amanda Siew

Amanda Siew is a News Producer at KWTV in Oklahoma City. She recently earned her Master’s Degree of Arts in journalism at the University of Oklahoma for her research on burnout among Gen Z television journalists. As a master’s in journalism graduate and a news producer, she has been involved in both the academic and practitioner sides of journalism.

As part of our series on local news researchers, CISLM Student Employee Kathryn DeHart interviewed Amanda Siew via Zoom. This interview was published Oct. 8, 2024 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media: What’s a recent research project you’ve done that has helped us understand the challenges facing local news?

Amanda Siew: When I went to graduate school after working my first job in the news industry for a year, I decided I wanted to study journalism well-being. The decision was driven by my own experiences in the field. I remember when I was working, I started to feel so much hatred towards my job, despite having spent four years in college working towards my career.

I remember feeling like that wasn’t normal, so I wanted to look into this problem and figure out the issue for my own well-being.

I looked at burnout among TV journalists, especially Gen Z. I noticed while doing the background research there was a gap with this particular age group. We’ve done studies that (were) published 10 years ago, but 10 years ago to now, a lot of things have changed in the industry. I was really hoping to dive into what the state of burnout looks like, especially among people who are just coming into the industry.

I interviewed 25 Gen Z journalists, all between 18 (and) 27, and what I found was that burnout was a really, really big thing. And it’s not surprising, because research has shown that burnout is a lot more common amongst first-year new journalists. But it’s still sad, because a lot of us, we’re in the first year to the first 5 years of our career, and I know so many people who are leaving the industry because of burnout.

CISLM: What should non-academics — local journalists or civically engaged community members — learn from that research?

AS: I think you can go about it in multiple ways. In my research, I created a separate section addressing managers. A lot of the burnout that journalists go through is (often) out of people’s control. It’s the industry itself. For example, we’re subject to stress all the time. We see all these traumatic events as part of the job, and there’s no way that we can avoid that.

But there are things in place within an organization that managers and higher-ups can do to help their journalists ease their burnout. I created a separate section just talking about what managers could be doing based on the suggestions of the Gen Z journalists that I interviewed.

The big takeaway was really just increasing resources. A lot of my journalists mentioned that the reason their burnout was so bad (was) because they’re doing more with less. They’re having to fill up more content slots. They’re being called to do multiple jobs because of understaffing, but staffing resources just haven’t kept up. The big overarching thing is for managers to really be mindful of that and not to add on to somebody’s plate. But also just being human and having a connection with your journalist is really important because at least they know that somebody is looking out for them.

Other than the manager’s side, I think any journalist who reads it, my hope is that they know that they’re not alone in this situation. Burnout is a little bit of a buzzword in the industry. Everybody talks about burnout. Everybody’s going through burnout. So I’m hoping my research helps shed light on this issue, so that my research can provide journalists some insight as to why they’re feeling burnout.

CISLM: What excites you about the future of local news?

KG: One thing that’s been hopeful for me is that with all of my interviews with these journalists, most of them have said they feel strongly about their jobs because it’s their passion, even when they feel really burnt out.

The research sounds depressing, but it gives me so much hope knowing that our generation of journalists are still so passionate about serving our communities and keeping people accountable. When people tell me journalism is dying, I’m just like, “I don’t really think so.”

Yes, the industry will evolve and we will change, but I don’t think we’re gonna die. The community needs us, and it’s so encouraging to know that there are people my age coming into the industry who are as equally passionate about serving their communities as I am.

CISLM: What helps you get through a long day of work?

AS: I’m a chronic yapper, so relying on my coworkers has been really helpful. I’m working at the organization that I used to work at, so I’m going back to working with friends and people that I used to work with.

Knowing that everybody is going through it together has been very reassuring. Knowing that you’re not alone in this makes it feel a little bit easier.

I’m always trying to push through and remind myself that I’m doing this for a bigger purpose. It might suck right now, but if I can help someone out there who’s watching my newscast make a more informed decision, or have them learn something about their community, then I’ve done my job.

CISLM: What else do you want people to know about burnout in journalism?

AS: This job is hard. Some days it sucks, and it is OK to have a complicated relationship or feelings towards the job.

When I first started working, I thought I was going to go in and love my job the whole way. I didn’t realize it was normal to go through a rollercoaster of emotions that you feel towards the job.

I held a lot of guilt in myself because I wasn’t loving my job every single day. Now, coming out of this research, I’m trying to be a little bit kinder to myself every day, and that’s been really helpful.

It’s also been great because I’m now more perceptive of what’s going on in my newsroom. I do what I can every day to lift up my coworkers. I’m just a regular old producer, but I’m doing what I can to kind of make sure I’m watching out for my coworkers because I have the knowledge now.