In particular, minorities and women predict they will leave early. But ''working conditions'' and ''stress'' now run a close second and third. The percentages of journalists rating their paper as ''excellent,'' and saying their paper is improving, have shrunk dramatically. A majority of journalists think that in 10 years newspapers will be ''a less important part of American life.'' More than half of the sample say their newsroom budget has declined in the last five years, and 71 percent say their current newsroom budget is inadequate. Most journalists say their papers are ''fair'' to ''poor'' at covering minorities, young people and gays.
Journalists generally give high marks to their paper's commitment to diversity.
Overall, majorities approve their paper's performance on ethnic diversity, gender diversity, and fairness on sexual-orientation workplace issues. And there is no validation of a white-male backlash. However, a majority of each minority group agree that their paper's commitment to ethnic diversity is inadequate. Journalists say the best strengths of their immediate supervisors are intelligence and journalism skills. RSI is especially prevalent at larger newspapers and among copy editors.