World News Day: Sustainability Begins With Journalists

As colleagues and industry peers commemorate World News Day, it is important that we pause, not just to celebrate journalism’s impact, but to confront the structural challenges threatening its future. Among the most pressing of these are the employment conditions of journalists and the sustainability of our newsrooms.

South Africa’s media industry has been under strain for more than a decade, with the print sector bearing the brunt of disruption. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, retrenchments had become routine. Those who remained were expected to do more with less: chasing multiple beats, filing stories across platforms, producing live updates and award-winning packages, often without the resources or support to match the ambition.

This imbalance between expectation and support raises fundamental questions. How do we ensure quality reporting when journalists are stretched to breaking point? How can newsrooms innovate when survival has become the priority? It is one thing to demand excellence; it is another to create the environment where excellence is possible.

World News Day is a reminder that journalism is not a luxury in society, it is an essential service. But sustainability cannot be measured only in balance sheets or audience metrics. It must also be reflected in how we invest in people. Without fair pay, mental health support, ongoing training, and safe working conditions, we risk hollowing out the very capacity that sustains democracy.

The future of journalism will not be secured by cost-cutting alone. It requires a deliberate strategy that combines new revenue models with a renewed commitment to those who produce the news. Whether through philanthropic partnerships, innovation funds, or stronger protections for media workers, we must reimagine sustainability in a way that puts journalists at the centre.

The world needs stories, accurate, credible, courageous stories. But storytellers need support. On this World News Day, let us recommit to building a media industry that honors its public mission by safeguarding the people who make it possible.