Journalists’ job security has diminished in the past few years. Especially in the course of the media crisis 2008 and afterwards, many journalists have become victims of reorganization. Journalists working for commercial media – especially newspapers – have been greatly affected. In 2010, the number of unemployed journalists was the highest in 40 years. In May 2010, 1465 journalists were jobless (comedia 2010). The following examples show the situation even more clearly: In May 2010, the regional newspaper Tages-Anzeiger dismissed 80 journalists; the tabloid Blick introduced its integrated newsroom and 45 journalists lost their jobs (comedia 2010). The situation has become especially critical for freelancers. They have fewer mandates for less money.
According to the interviewees, the situation at the public broadcaster SRG SSR regarding job security is still satisfactory. Still, the times when one got a secure job until retirement are over. There is, however, a Collective Labour Agreement (GAV) that protects all employees fairly well.
