The weak economy has affected all industries including the mass media. Newspapers and bureaus are closing, newsrooms are downsizing and now aspiring young journalists are faced with the reality of waiting for a job to open up.

Adriana Gomez Licon is an ambitious young journalist.

"To work at a newspaper, at daily, being a reporter covering crime and the police beat and eventually moving on to politics," said Gomez Licon.

Unfortunately, when she graduates in three months, finding a job will be hard because full-time positions in newspapers and TV stations are dwindling.

"It's very discouraging for students to hear that especially when you're graduating and you know you're ready, you know how to manage multimedia," said Gomez Licon.

At UTEP more than 100 communications students are scheduled to graduate in May including Gomez Licon. The chair of the communications department, Dr. Frank G. Perez said the college tries to prepare students for the real world.

"We worked with our local advisory council and by interviewing people in the field and throughout the country to look at ways to make our students more competitive because it is so hard to find a job right now," said Perez.

Perez said students have fears and have questions but he says he has advice for them too.

"One of the things is the economy will always bounce back. It's a difficult time to get started but I encourage them to do a number of things, one is the more experience they're going to have when the economy does rebound the likelihood of getting a good job," said Perez.

Gomez Licon said she already had a back-up plan.

"My back-up plan would be go to grad school and get some sort of master's degree in maybe business journalism," said Gomez Licon.