Communications and Journalism Career Trends

Digital media completions rose while three related fields declined

Digital media completions rose from 8,769 in 2020 to 10,535 in 2023.

Speech communication completions fell from 40,802 in 2020 to 32,378 in 2023.

Journalism completions fell from 11,994 to 9,733 during the same period.

Public relations completions fell from 5,112 to 4,362 during the same period.

These revised IPEDS figures count reported first-major completions across all award levels.

Public relations leads the available earnings benchmarks

Public relations bachelor’s programs had median earnings of $38,244 after one year and $65,248 after four years.

Speech communication had median earnings of $34,243 after one year and $57,138 after four years.

Journalism had median earnings of $33,205 after one year and $58,454 after four years.

Digital media had median earnings of $30,250 after one year and $49,951 after four years.

These College Scorecard benchmarks inherit broader communication-field cohorts.

They are not independent earnings estimates for each exact field.

The fields connect to different career groups

The federal preparation crosswalk links journalism to reporters, editors, writers, communications teachers, and proofreading roles.

Public relations links to specialists, managers, advertising managers, fundraisers, fundraising managers, and communications teachers.

Speech communication links to public relations, writing, broadcasting, teaching, and other communication roles.

Digital media links to web and digital interface designers, managers, communications teachers, and other communication roles.

These links describe possible preparation paths, not graduate placement or hiring probability.

Related careers have different projected directions

Reporters had a $62,200 median wage in May 2025. Their employment is projected to decline 3.9% from 2024 to 2034.

Editors had a $77,920 median wage in May 2025. Their employment is projected to grow 0.6% from 2024 to 2034.

Public relations specialists had a $74,750 median wage in May 2025. Their employment is projected to grow 4.8% from 2024 to 2034.

Writers and authors had a $76,910 median wage in May 2025. Their employment is projected to grow 3.6% from 2024 to 2034.

Web and digital interface designers had a $104,000 median wage in May 2025. Their employment is projected to grow 7.0% from 2024 to 2034.

Telework availability varies across the related careers

Telework was available to 66.5% of web and digital interface designers in the 2023 Occupational Requirements Survey.

The 2023 estimates were 59.4% for reporters and 49.3% for editors.

Telework was available to 31.7% of public relations specialists in 2023.

The selected 2023 telework measure was not published for writers and authors.

Observed Claude use does not explain career change

Editors represented 2.21% of observed first-party Claude API use from May 1 through June 1, 2026.

Writers and authors represented 2.09% of observed use during that period.

The corresponding shares were 1.37% for reporters and 1.18% for web and digital interface designers.

Public relations specialists represented 0.09% of observed use during that period.

These product-use observations do not measure job displacement, productivity, shortages, or employment effects.

BLS projections describe expected career change separately from the observed Claude-use records.