Entry Level Pay

[Your Huckleberry]

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?

 

[spup1122]

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

 

[zeke12]

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

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

 

[spup1122]

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.

 

[John]

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

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.

 

[Write-brained]

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

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

I'm having trouble seeing 15K making my coffee in the morning at the convenience store ...

 

[HejiraHenry]

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

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.

$30K? darn.

 

[Write-brained]

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

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.

$30K? darn.

I ditto dat darn.

 

[Flash]

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

 

[spup1122]

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.

 

[John]

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.

 

[sportschick]

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