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June 14, 2012

With Jobs In U.S. Lacking, Black Journalists Consider The Middle East

By Barry Cooper

How tough is the job market for African-American journalists? Media blogger Richard Prince writes that it is so tough that some black journalists are moving overseas to the Middle East to work.  Prince reported recently that Bradley C. Bennett, a former assistant city editor for the Miami Herald, is now a city editor at the National, an English-language newspaper in Abu Dhabi.

Bennett told Prince, “I would encourage more black journalists who are seeing fewer opportunities in America to spread their wings a little and try for a job in the Middle East or the Far East, where newspapers are generally thriving. “The best part of moving (to Abu Dhabi) is that my twin daughters, who were born in South Florida and now attend a school of predominantly Emirati citizens, now speak Arabic and Spanish, as well as English.”

The National is aggressively recruiting journalists from the U.S. Two recent job postings on the Journalism Jobs website showed openings for a business editor with a salary of up to $100,000, and for a sports production editor with a salary of up to $75,000.

No one can say for sure how many American-born blacks are working in the Middle East or Far East. Without a doubt, many black journalists in the United States are being forced to become more creative about their job searches if they want to stay in journalism, especially newspapers.  The daily newspaper industry has cratered in America, with the size of some newsroom staffs shrinking by more than 50 percent over the past 10 years as the Internet has threatened to put traditional newspapers out of business.

Nonstop layoffs have hit black journalists hard, especially those with lots of experience. As newspapers have cut back, many have shed their most veteran and highest-paid writers and editors. Letting such talent go has helped the papers significantly reduce payroll as competition from the Internet eats away at profits.

In May, the Times-Picayune in New Orleans announced the once unthinkable: It said it would reduce its print schedule to just three days a week and significantly reduce the size of its staff.  If the move works, more newspapers are likely to follow, leading to even more layoffs that will affect all journalists, including blacks who may well have to give working in the Middle East at least a passing thought.

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