A new survey by the International Federation of Journalists has revealed that around the world, experienced senior journalists are being replaced by younger graduates who more often work in a non-permanent employment relationship.
As they take up jobs in media, journalists’ average rate of pay appears to be declining in real terms, or at best, standing still, over the past five years, the figures show.
The report said: "These changes appear to be having a negative impact on the quality of editorial content and may be jeopardising the media’s role as a watchdog for society. There are indications that insecurity in employment may be contributing to a decline in critical and investigative reporting."

A personal tribute to a journalist inspired one of the floral displays which filled a parish church.
Janet Bidwell composed the arrangement which reflected the life of Gerard Young as part of the flower festival during the Felpham's parish's record open garden weekend. Gerard was a senior journalist on the former Bognor Regis Post newspaper. His historical articles were especially popular. He died in 1972 at the age of 60.

A third-year radio student has produced a hard-hitting radio documentary that has been snapped up by the Lancashire Evening Post to appear on its website.
Julie Barrie, from the University of Central Lancashire, spent months on the streets of Preston making a documentary about the homeless for a university project and says she chose the subject because it was a worthwhile topic.

A brave Kiddermister Shuttle/Times & News employee is set to come face to face with sharks when she takes the plunge in the name of charity.
Deputy advertising manager Michelle Walton is set to try out her scuba diving technique at Britain's biggest aquarium in Manchester to raise money for medical research charity, the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.

A former attendant to the Basingstoke Carnival Queen has been reunited with a box of photographs and keepsakes after an appeal in The Basingstoke Extra.
The Extra published an appeal to find the owner of several old photo albums and a small case of keepsakes on behalf of the Chard and Ilminster News, a sister paper in Somerset. The items were found and given to the News following a clearout by an estate agent in Crewkerne, Somerset, and had been stored at the paper's office.