The recent Miami Herald layoffs bring the industry’s uncertain future closer to home for UM students preparing for careers in journalism.
On Sept. 10, the Herald’s parent company, McClatchy, laid off journalists and other media workers across its newspapers. At the Herald, it eliminated 28 jobs and froze four open positions. Michelle Kaufman, a longtime Herald sports reporter and professor at UM, covered soccer and UM basketball during her three decades at the paper before she was laid off.
“I am very honest with [my students] that this is not the same business I entered 40 years ago, when newspapers were making lots of money, had big staffs, and reporters got to travel all over the world,” Kaufman said.
Similarly, Local 10 anchor and UM instructor Calvin Hughes has watched the industry change from television. Hughes began his journalism career in 1990. While journalists have new ways to share their work, he said the central responsibility has stayed the same: Find the facts and explain what is happening in people’s communities.
“People do and should care about what is happening in their own backyard, and it is our job to tell that story,” Hughes said.
The cuts eliminated the Herald’s entire audience team, its sole video producer, its Miami City Hall reporter, all reporters covering Broward County and its only female photographer, along with the entire writing staff of its Spanish-language sister publication, El Nuevo Herald, according to the Associated Press.
Without reporters dedicated to those beats, routine government decisions and residents’ concerns risk receiving less coverage, and officials’ promises may face less scrutiny.
“As the newsrooms cut reporting positions, it is impossible to cover the community the way we once did,” Kaufman said.
She said the cuts mean losing institutional knowledge, reporters with deep community connections and watchdogs monitoring corruption.
Kaufman’s career spans a major shift in how news reaches people, from the days when newspaper stories appeared in print editions that readers picked up the next day.
Audiences can now follow stories online and through social media, though journalists still need to verify information and talk to sources. A 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that 86% of adults in the U.S. got news from digital devices at least sometimes, while only 7% often got news from printed newspapers or magazines.
Ansel Mello, a sophomore studying broadcast journalism, sees that shift shaping student’s opportunities.
“I believe the future of media is heading where it’s already trending, toward independent journalists building their own audiences on social media,” Mello said.
The newspaper industry has also shrunk significantly. Northwestern University’s 2025 State of Local News report estimates that U.S. print newspaper circulation has fallen 70% since 2005. Over the same period, the industry lost more than three-quarters of its jobs. New digital outlets have appeared, but Northwestern found they have not grown quickly enough to replace the local newspapers that have disappeared.
“The layoffs make me nervous because even people with years of experience are losing their jobs. I’m still interested in journalism, but I feel like I have to learn more than just writing,” said Gaby Shaw, a sophomore studying broadcast journalism. “Being able to shoot video, edit and report across different platforms seems important, now that there are fewer positions available.”
That emphasis on developing a broader range of skills also shapes Hughes’ advice to aspiring journalists. He encourages his students and WPLG interns to practice storytelling on social media, think critically, ask questions and pursue internships where they can demonstrate their skills. He also recommends watching newscasters to learn how they handle breaking news and giving themselves grace as they develop into professional journalists.
“I believe that a journalist should be willing to go where the facts take them,” Hughes said. “The viewers may not see the hours of preparation that go into storytelling but they certainly benefit from them.”
For UM journalism students, preparing for the professions means learning news ways to reach audiences while watching local newsrooms lose the reporters their communities depend on.