The rise of ‘fake news’ is producing a record number of journalism majors - MarketWatch

The news business has been an iffy career choice since the rise of free online news, with struggling media outlets shedding staff, and the advent of “fake news” and President Trump’s many criticisms of the press have presented challenges for the industry. So who would voluntarily embark on a journalism career these days? Quite a lot, it turns out.

Applications have jumped at journalism schools across the country. After five years of “consistent” application numbers, Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism saw a 10% increase for the 2017-2018 school year, a spokeswoman said. (Graduate schools in the U.S. have seen applications rise about 1% annually in recent years, according to a report from the Council of Graduate Schools.)