Daily newspapers have tremendously suffered in recent years and most have stopped being profitable long ago. A friend of mine works for a regional newspaper and can, unsurprisingly, barely make a living on what she earns, her salary is horribly low. She works, as I mentioned, for a regional newspaper. My question is: How is the situation actually at a top newspaper? I'm talking about really world-leading, globally circulating newspaper, e.g. the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post etc. Since these newspapers are very selective in hiring and are really opinion leaders, do you think a journalist at such a newspaper makes significantly more? Or is it low-paid as well?
How Well Do Jobs In Journalism Pay?
Like most industries, the pay rate in journalism varies extremely between those who've worked their way up the ladder and those just starting out. It is possible to make a decent enough living in print media but you have to be willing to spend, possibly years, making very little.
Certified User @NorthSider shares:
The editors of major newspapers are paid pretty well ($400k - $1.4mm depending on the place), but staffers aren't making anything glamorous ($40-80k, depending on seniority). More importantly, tons of the junior people interning / working at the major publications are making next-to-nothing. And we're not talking about people from DeVry, these are typically Ivy-educated over-achievers who beat out a swath of their peers. J-school is a tough path.A few samples of the most successful people in journalism:
- Sam Tanenhaus $180,000 Editor, The New York Times Book Review
- Jill Keller $650,000 Executive editor, the New York Times
- Col Allan $600,000 Editor, New York Post
- Richard Johnson $300,000 "Page Six" gossip columnist
- Thomas Friedman $300,000 Columnist, the New York Times
- Maria Schneider $17,500 Associate Editor, The Onion
- Will Shortz $90,000 Crossword editor, the New York Times
- Jim Romenesko $169,187 Blogger, the Poynter Institute
- Norm Pearlstine $2 million Editor-in-chief, Time Inc.
- Anna Wintour $2 million Editor, Vogue
- Sylvana Soto-Ward $40,000 Assistant to Anna Wintour
- Bonnie Fuller $1,574,851 Editorial director, American Media
- Janice Min $1.2 million Editor, Us Weekly
- James Kelly $1.1 million Managing editor, Time
- Tom Wallace $1 million Editorial director, Conde Nast
- David Remnick $1 million Editor, The New Yorker
But what you're talking about, just being a journalist / not-world-renown columnist:
- Jessica Coen $30,000 Blogger, Gawker.com
So based on this, you can see that there's a huge range in potential earnings depending on where you land.
shares ideas on earning potential in conventional journalism.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_AcgqTs6-E
@NorthSider further shares:
Print Media
It ain't all bad news
…Take magazines. On the lowest rungs of a masthead are editorial assistants and fact checkers, paid between $22,000 and $28,000. Some of the more generous parent companies, including Time Warner, pay for overtime hours, which at a high-pressure title like Entertainment Weekly can double your weekly take-home. At The New Yorker, first-year fact checkers pull in $30,000 to $35,000…"You'll make nothing for a while," says an editor at a major consumer magazine, "and then suddenly you hit the senior bracket as a writer or an editor and boom -- in comes the real cash."What exactly qualifies as "real cash," of course, depends on the parent company. Freshman staff writers and reporters at Time Warner make between $35,000 and $50,000, about 10 percent more than at most other companies. Senior writers at marquee publications like Sports Illustrated and Time earn between $60,000 and $150,000; their editors make between $100,000 and $150,000. The top editors make about $250,000, with the editors-in-chief making $500,000 to $1 million. In addition, "some of the top people are getting bonuses equal to good salaries," says a Time Warner writer…
On the advertising end of magazines -- the guys getting Calvin and Donna to sign for millions -- pay is better. A junior ad salesman, the typical starting job, makes between $45,000 and $70,000. Stay on that path and your pay could increase to around $150,000 as a senior salesman. Publishers' pay packets depend on the profile of the magazine, ranging from $200,000 to $800,000, with bonuses that can double these figures.
Newspapers are a whole different story. The New York Times, not surprisingly, is the best-paying paper in town. Copy editors start out at $70,000 and earn up to $120,000. Mid-level editors can make $110,000 to $250,000, while those closer to the top net $300,000 to $400,000. Reporters' salaries are established by the Newspaper Guild, so while their pay starts out high -- $70,720 -- it doesn't increase as exponentially as that of their magazine counterparts, peaking after decades at around $120,000. Columnists, however, are not members of the guild, so, depending on the luminosity of the star, pay ranges from $150,000 to $350,000…
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Comments (8)
I'm curious too. What do weekly columnists get at a place like the NYT? David Brooks, etc?
The editors of major newspapers are paid pretty well ($400k - $1.4mm depending on the place), but staffers aren't making anything glamorous ($40-80k, depending on seniority).
More importantly, tons of the junior people interning / working at the major publications are making next-to-nothing. And we're not talking about people from DeVry, these are typically Ivy-educated over-achievers who beat out a swath of their peers. J-school is a tough path.
A few samples of the most successful people in journalism:
Sam Tanenhaus
$180,000 Editor, The New York Times Book Review
Jill Keller $650,000 Executive editor, the New York Times
Col Allan
$600,000 Editor, New York Post
Richard Johnson $300,000 "Page Six" gossip columnist
Thomas Friedman $300,000 Columnist, the New York Times
Maria Schneider $17,500 Associate Editor, The Onion
Will Shortz $90,000 Crossword editor, the New York Times
Jim Romenesko
$169,187 Blogger, the Poynter Institute
Norm Pearlstine $2 million Editor-in-chief, Time Inc.
Anna Wintour
$2 million Editor, Vogue
Sylvana Soto-Ward
$40,000 Assistant to Anna Wintour
Bonnie Fuller
$1,574,851 Editorial director, American Media
Janice Min
$1.2 million Editor, Us Weekly
James Kelly $1.1 million Managing editor, Time
Tom Wallace $1 million Editorial director, Condé Nast
David Remnick
$1 million Editor, The New Yorker
But what you're talking about, just being a journalist / not-world-renown columnist:
Jessica Coen
$30,000 Blogger, Gawker.com
From this post, you should be able to intuit that these guys are making multiples of what their underlings are making ($40 - 80k).
This completely answers your question:
Print Media It ain't all bad news
Why pursue a career in the media? Perhaps to bask in an inflated sense of personal power. Or to savor the image of millions of complete strangers cursing your name over the breakfast table. Whatever the reasons, the money is usually not chief among them.
Take magazines. On the lowest rungs of a masthead are editorial assistants and fact checkers, paid between $22,000 and $28,000. Some of the more generous parent companies, including Time Warner, pay for overtime hours, which at a high-pressure title like Entertainment Weekly can double your weekly take-home. At The New Yorker, first-year fact checkers pull in $30,000 to $35,000 (just don't dream of moving up the masthead; for one thing, there isn't one). "You'll make nothing for a while," says an editor at a major consumer magazine, "and then suddenly you hit the senior bracket as a writer or an editor and boom -- in comes the real cash."
What exactly qualifies as "real cash," of course, depends on the parent company. Freshman staff writers and reporters at Time Warner make between $35,000 and $50,000, about 10 percent more than at most other companies. Senior writers at marquee publications like Sports Illustrated and Time earn between $60,000 and $150,000; their editors make between $100,000 and $150,000. The top editors make about $250,000, with the editors-in-chief making $500,000 to $1 million. In addition, "some of the top people are getting bonuses equal to good salaries," says a Time Warner writer.
Condé Nast also has a reputation for generosity -- at least on the upper rungs. Writers and editors working at the lowest levels bring in $30,000 to $40,000. But once you graduate to the next tier, working until ten (with, of course, a radio car waiting downstairs to take you to dinner) doesn't seem so bad. Executive editors make $200,000 to $300,000. Photo editors can make from $125,000 to $200,000. Art directors make $180,000 to $225,000. "And these guys are getting massive perks," says an editor. "They're set." As are the editors-in-chief. Depending on the profitability and profile of the magazine, their pay ranges from $500,000 to $1.5 million.
On the advertising end of magazines -- the guys getting Calvin and Donna to sign for millions -- pay is better. A junior ad salesman, the typical starting job, makes between $45,000 and $70,000. Stay on that path and your pay could increase to around $150,000 as a senior salesman. Publishers' pay packets depend on the profile of the magazine, ranging from $200,000 to $800,000, with bonuses that can double these figures.
Newspapers are a whole different story. The New York Times, not surprisingly, is the best-paying paper in town. Copy editors start out at $70,000 and earn up to $120,000. Mid-level editors can make $110,000 to $250,000, while those closer to the top net $300,000 to $400,000. Reporters' salaries are established by the Newspaper Guild, so while their pay starts out high -- $70,720 -- it doesn't increase as exponentially as that of their magazine counterparts, peaking after decades at around $120,000. Columnists, however, are not members of the guild, so, depending on the luminosity of the star, pay ranges from $150,000 to $350,000.
The days of the chain-smoking, hard-drinking tabloid reporter may be over (Steve Dunleavy notwithstanding), but the pay scale at the Post and the News, which aren't members of the Newspaper Guild, still smack of that era: At the Post, cub reporters out on a beat make between $30,000 and $40,000, the same as the guys up late editing their copy. Considering that the entire paper revolves around the dish in "Page Six," it's not a shock that reporters there earn more -- between $50,000 and $60,000, the same as feature writers. Top writers net between $70,000 and $80,000, while the major columnists make between $100,000 and $150,000.
thanks a lot, great article, answers all my questions indeed.
thanks a lot, great article, answers all my questions indeed.
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