US editorial staffs are contracting by the year. According to the latest newsroom census carried out by the American Society of News Editors, there were about 2,600 fewer full-time professional editorial jobs at American newspapers in 2012, a 6.4% decline from 2011.
It means the industry has some 38,000 full-time professional editorial employees and marks the first time the figure has fallen below 40,000 since the census began in 1978.
But there are important caveats about the data pointed out by Rick Edmonds on Poynter. Several large newspapers didn't fill out the survey this time, with only 978 of 1,382 dailies having responded.
It is also the case that the definition of editorial staff has become muddled.
Sources: Pew Research/Poynter
