Journalist to Copywriter: How Laid-Off Writers Are Reclaiming Their Careers

Nearly 10,000 journalists have lost their jobs in the last few years, and if you’re reading this article you might be one of them. It seems like every month new layoffs are announced and smaller news outlets are shuttered. This isn’t the end of the world. Or your career. Now that LLMs are hallucinating everywhere, your journalism skills are needed more than ever. You just need to know where to find paying contracts.

Enter: copywriting. Don’t clutch those pearls yet. Hear me out.

Copywriting doesn’t replace your journalism identity. It’s a financially sustainable way to use your skills in industries that need honest, clear communication. Every journalist I’ve ever met who made the shift to copywriting has said the same thing: I should’ve done it sooner. And before you say you didn’t get into journalism for the money … how do you plan to pay your bills after a layoff?

How can writers go from journalist to copywriter?

You’ll never be taught this in journalism school, but your skills are highly valued in the corporate world. Namely, your research skills, interview experience, and the ability to synthesize complex information for a general audience.

Yes, this is true even as large language models (LLMs) have exploded in corporate environments.

Why don’t we know this? As journalists, we’re never taught how to translate our skills into different areas of communication. There’s an antagonism toward corporate writing, even though corporate communications rely on the same skills we use in the newsroom. This is especially true in regulated industries like finance, health care, technology, and energy production.

Regulated industries demand accurate data-driven storytelling and the ability to break down complex ideas. You know, those skills you have? Companies value your ability to communicate truth, and they pay well for those skills.

Three things you can do today to take control of your career

You don’t need a course or a guru to navigate the journalist to copywriter journey. Here are three concrete steps you can take this week:

1. Audit your clips for transferable proof. Look at your existing work through a corporate client’s eyes. Any piece that explains a complex topic clearly, tells a human story, or moves a reader to care about something can function as a copywriting sample. You probably have ten of them already.

2. Identify one type of business that needs what you do. Think about your beat. If you covered health, then pharma and wellness brands need you. If you covered tech, SaaS companies are desperate for writers who can make their product sound human. Your beat is an asset.

3. Send one cold pitch this week. Not a job application. A pitch. They’re different. Find a brand whose content is clearly written by LLMs or someone who doesn’t know how to write. Send a short email explaining what you’d do differently. One specific observation. One paragraph. Ask for one conversation.

If you’re not sure how to do this, I’ve been where you are. I put together Byline to Bottom Line, a quick-start PDF and templates to help you reframe your journalism skills and start landing copywriting clients. If you want a one-week, step-by-step plan to reposition your career, it’s only $29.

The journalists landing copywriting clients right now aren’t doing anything miraculous. They’re applying the same instincts they used in the newsroom. They’re just pointing themselves in a new direction.

Yes, you can go from journalist to copywriter.

The steps above will get you started. If you want a complete system to get you to your first paying client, that’s exactly why I wrote Byline to Bottom Line. Check out the links above.

Even if you choose not to download the guide, you can still take control of your career after a layoff. The media industry has been contracting since the mid 2010s. (I know. I went through it.) Writers are still writing, and you can, too.

This summer I have a new book coming out, Future-Proof Your Freelance Writing Career. Sign up for the email list to get info on the release date.

Journalism skills are more important than ever. Let’s take them beyond the newsroom.