Journalism

$25,000 - $200,000 is expected

Another long answer as I don't have an article to write right now:

I've worked as a financial journalist for years and honestly most of it is just marketing by another name. I pivoted from writing articles to writing copy in marketing and investor relations for equity, and it was very similar. The above answer of $25k to $200k is accurate. I actually got in an argument with my last employer over war profiteering in Ukraine and got sacked then kind of disillusioned with the whole thing, so I decided to revisit programming and am doing both right now.

A lot of it is just controlled reporting from insiders to influence retail investors, and it is very effective and often beneficial for both parties. That's not random online crapshoots but rigorous, fact-focused journalism that flows through major channels. When you follow news on things like IPOs and M&As and other large moves in public markets, that's paid for and carefully scheduled directly from the business in the article. I don't think this is shady or anything, it's useful to anyone who invests. Another thing is that the audience is mostly boomers, as they are the largest consumers of legacy media, and they are also the most valuable retail investors thanks to their disposable income.

Another weird aspect of the business are the public scandals you see with journalists selling inside info for pretty paltry sums to supplement their incomes. It seems standard across the board on Wall Street that having access to insider information is a test of your integrity and messing this up will end your career. Business/finance journalism pays far more than many similar fields, and big brand publications are about as good as it gets in terms of salary as a journalist. I don't really see myself doing this for life, but it has helped me to reach further towards my larger goals.

Journalism isn't really a career that's geared towards large salaries, unless you are like a famous journalist at a top publication. More typical reporter salaries at these same companies are far lower than say a junior investment banker, WSJ would be $60k to $70k for brand new reporters. That's why I went into the marketing side of finance and am starting to do more programming. I think the future of this business will be inseparable from software engineering, and that quants will eventually take over if they haven't already. Anyways, that's what it's like to be a financial journalist and what you can expect in terms of pay. Much more than you asked for or needed to know because I'm bored.