Economy affecting TV as well as print: CNN/NBC vet

Journalists who assume they'll escape anxiety by concentrating on broadcasting instead of newspaper are missing the big picture, according to former CNN and NBC News video editor and camera operator David P. Burns.

The recession and expansion of consumer choices for media is affecting journalists and news companies across the board, Burns writes in the new Quill magazine.

"Studio production crews are getting smaller, forcing technicians to compete for a handful of jobs in a single market," Burns writes in a piece about moving from newsrooms to classrooms.

Susan Kirkwood, a special-projects producer for Baltimore's WMAR-TV until she was laid off, has started teaching part-time at Towson University, where students don't realize the reality of 21st century broadcast journalism.

"They always seem surprised to learn it's not glamorous," she said. "I told them about working overnights, and they couldn't believe that schedule existed."