Illustration: Luo Xuan/GT

Journalism in China is considered a "young rice bowl" job, meaning it is a profession for young people only. Although many Chinese reporters over 30 believe they are the "new young," they are considered "old comrades" in the field of journalism.

"If you are over 30, and you are still doing on the ground reporting, people will think you are probably a loser," one of my reporter friends told me. A successful journalist, he said, should get promoted to an editor or above after the age of 30.

Studies show that Chinese journalists are getting younger. According to a PR Newswire survey titled 2016 Journalists' Working Status and News Gathering Habits in Asia-Pacific released earlier this year, over 60 percent of the 1,477 journalists surveyed are aged between 21 and 30, and 25 percent of that age group have less than two years' experience in journalism. Also, among those aged between 31 and 40, 84 percent have over six years' experience, while only 19 percent have over 11 years' experience.

Conversely, in the US, journalists are getting older. According to a survey conducted by the Indiana University School of Journalism in 2013, the median age of full-time journalists in the US increased by six years to 47 from 2002.

So, what are these young Chinese journalists like? Last week I participated in a journalism program organized by the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat and spent some time with 12 journalists from China, Japan, and Korea. The age gap between the youngest Chinese journalist and the oldest Japanese journalist was 25 years.

When all the journalists gathered for a meeting, the Chinese journalists reached for their MacBook while the Japanese and Korean journalists got out pen and paper to take notes. The Japanese and Korean journalists wore dark suits with an old-school tie, while the Chinese journalists wore a formal shirt without a tie or sometimes just a T-shirt.

I asked one of the participants if she thinks age makes a difference in journalism. She said no but then added that the older journalists are whiners who complained about everything, while the younger ones are troublemakers.

Despite the age difference, they all got along well. The Chinese journalists even helped the Japanese and Korean journalists set up WeChat accounts so that they can keep in touch in the future.

During the last journalist dialogue, a participant asked why a journalism job is considered a "young rice bowl" job in China.

Well, the sad fact is that many experienced reporters have left journalism due to low pay. According to PR Newswire's survey, over 80 percent of the respondents said they earn less than 10,000 yuan($1,494) a month, and another 60 percent said low pay is the main reason they want to leave journalism.

"That's why we call ourselves 'migrant laborers in the news industry,'" one of the Chinese participants said, adding that he knows at least 12 journalists who left journalism in the past few years.

A Korean journalist told me that at age 40, he was tempted to leave journalism for public relations (PR). "But my friend told me that if journalism is A level, then PR is a D, not even a B. I don't want to be a D," he said.

This article was published on the Global Times Metropolitan section Two Cents page, a space for reader submissions, including opinion, humor and satire. The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times.