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Entry Level Pay

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Your Huckleberry, May 26, 2007.

  1. I was reading a thread where a paper in Arkansas was being raked over the coals for offering $15K-20K for an entry level sports writer's position and wondered what the job should pay to make most of those on here happy.

    So I guess my question is what would be considered fair pay for entry level journalists these days?
     
  2. spup1122

    spup1122 Guest

    A living wage. $20K in that community might make it. With $15K a person doesn't stand a chance in hell of surviving.
     
  3. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    If the job requires a college degree, it better pay enough to pay for rent, groceries, a shitty car and student loans.

    I'm having trouble seeing 15K making that happen.
     
  4. spup1122

    spup1122 Guest

    I know for a fact that it won't in that area. Hell, $20K won't in most areas without a second income or roommates.
     
  5. John

    John Well-Known Member

    Isn't 15K right at the poverty line?

    Anything above 25K would might be considered fair at a paper under 40,000. I work at a 31,000 paper and all entry-level hires will now get 30K -- it's something our EE has pushed for since he took over a few years ago.
     
  6. I'm having trouble seeing 15K making my coffee in the morning at the convenience store ...
     
  7. HejiraHenry

    HejiraHenry Well-Known Member

    $30K? Damn.
     
  8. I ditto dat damn.
     
  9. Flash

    Flash Guest

    Christ, I made $17K Cdn when I first started out. It should be a crime to pay that now.
     
  10. spup1122

    spup1122 Guest

    I worked at a paper less than an hour away from the Arkansas paper he is talking about. They tried offering me $10/hour but I told them that was not acceptable for a living wage in that community without having a second job and if they wanted me to cover the crime beat correctly, a second job was not going to work. They upped the offer. Papers in that area are pretty bad about low balling.
     
  11. John

    John Well-Known Member

    That's what he told me. Can't confirm that it's true, but my paper does pay pretty well -- especially considering how cheap it is to live here.
     
  12. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    Minimum of 25K. Nobody who spends four years in college should make less at a job in their degree field.
     
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