4 ms·

Is $43k per story a normal salary for journalists in the US? If so, journalism is a more lucrative even today than I had imagined.

by mafribe 10y ago

beachstartup 10y ago
no. it isn't. this isn't journalism, as proven in court. she was a paid propagandist, that's something entirely different. it's more akin to being a political operative.
maehwasu 10y ago
Journalism is one of the worst-compensated jobs there is, relative to the level of education and time investment required. Shilling pre-planned story angles for sugar daddies, on the other hand, pays quite well.
danso 10y ago
The $43K number comes out of the revelation in court documents that her contract with RS was $300K for 2 years, for 7 stories: http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/21/rolling-stone-paid-reporter-nearly-43000-for-disastrous-uva-article/ http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/21/rolling-stone-paid-reporte... That's a good salary that most journalists would dream to reach, but keep in mind a few things: 1. It's still freelance work, which means that she's not getting paid health benefits. 2. She's been writing at least 20 years now and she, up to that point, was highly decorated. 3. She's based in New York. 4. Those stories are meant to have huge impact and seen by millions. The UVA story, if she hadn't botched it, would have the potential to cause systemic change. As a point of comparison, I did a lookup for "writer" in California public salaries: http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=writer http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=writer Top writing jobs (mostly technical) are reaping $110K+ before benefits: http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=Epic%20Report%20Writer%20II http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=Epic%20R... Moreover, they can retire at age 55 with a pension that puts them well above middle class: http://transparentcalifornia.com/pensions/search/?q=writer http://transparentcalifornia.com/pensions/search/?q=writer As another point of comparison, the executive editor of the NYTimes starts at around $500K: http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2014/05/report-abramson-salary-100k-below-male-editor-188637 http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2014/05/report-abramson-... That's a ton of money for journalism. But you'd laugh if you heard that that's what the CEOs of Google or Microsoft made. Here's some salaries of top people at NPR and TAL: http://www.andymboyle.com/2013/07/21/an-updated-look-at-ira-glass-and-other-public-media-salaries/ http://www.andymboyle.com/2013/07/21/an-updated-look-at-ira-... Ira Glass had a base salary of $148K in 2010. Rob Siegel had a base salary of $320K.
- hueving 10y ago
  >That's a ton of money for journalism. But you'd laugh if you heard that that's what the CEOs of Google or Microsoft made. Wouldnt the correct comparison be to the CEO/president of the New York times?
  - danso 10y ago
    Yeah you're right. Mark Thompson is the president and CEO of the Times and makes $8.7M off a base salary in $1M (the rest is stock options and other compensation): http://wwd.com/business-news/media/the-new-york-times-reveals-pay-compensation-2015-top-execs-ceo-mark-thompson-arthur-sulzberger-10396303/ http://wwd.com/business-news/media/the-new-york-times-reveal... Executive editors are often at the "senior vice president" level, below the CEO and Publisher, and peers with execs who run the ad side. So I guess the NYT's exec editor is equivalent to Google's senior VPs of search, which has included John Giannandrea, Amit Singhal, and Marissa Meyer.
- ptaipale 10y ago
  > The UVA story, if she hadn't botched it, would have the potential to cause systemic change. That sounds scary. If the manufacturing of a story would have been more competent, it would have caused systemic change. Well, I guess that is what happens.

Is $43k per story a normal salary for journalists in the US? If so, journalism is a more lucrative even today than I had imagined.

by mafribe 10y ago

Is $43k per story a normal salary for journalists in the US? If so, journalism is a more lucrative even today than I had imagined.

beachstartup 10y ago

no. it isn't. this isn't journalism, as proven in court. she was a paid propagandist, that's something entirely different. it's more akin to being a political operative.

maehwasu 10y ago

Journalism is one of the worst-compensated jobs there is, relative to the level of education and time investment required. Shilling pre-planned story angles for sugar daddies, on the other hand, pays quite well.

danso 10y ago

The $43K number comes out of the revelation in court documents that her contract with RS was $300K for 2 years, for 7 stories: http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/21/rolling-stone-paid-reporter-nearly-43000-for-disastrous-uva-article/ http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/21/rolling-stone-paid-reporte... That's a good salary that most journalists would dream to reach, but keep in mind a few things: 1. It's still freelance work, which means that she's not getting paid health benefits. 2. She's been writing at least 20 years now and she, up to that point, was highly decorated. 3. She's based in New York. 4. Those stories are meant to have huge impact and seen by millions. The UVA story, if she hadn't botched it, would have the potential to cause systemic change. As a point of comparison, I did a lookup for "writer" in California public salaries: http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=writer http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=writer Top writing jobs (mostly technical) are reaping $110K+ before benefits: http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=Epic%20Report%20Writer%20II http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=Epic%20R... Moreover, they can retire at age 55 with a pension that puts them well above middle class: http://transparentcalifornia.com/pensions/search/?q=writer http://transparentcalifornia.com/pensions/search/?q=writer As another point of comparison, the executive editor of the NYTimes starts at around $500K: http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2014/05/report-abramson-salary-100k-below-male-editor-188637 http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2014/05/report-abramson-... That's a ton of money for journalism. But you'd laugh if you heard that that's what the CEOs of Google or Microsoft made. Here's some salaries of top people at NPR and TAL: http://www.andymboyle.com/2013/07/21/an-updated-look-at-ira-glass-and-other-public-media-salaries/ http://www.andymboyle.com/2013/07/21/an-updated-look-at-ira-... Ira Glass had a base salary of $148K in 2010. Rob Siegel had a base salary of $320K.

hueving 10y ago
>That's a ton of money for journalism. But you'd laugh if you heard that that's what the CEOs of Google or Microsoft made. Wouldnt the correct comparison be to the CEO/president of the New York times?
- danso 10y ago
  Yeah you're right. Mark Thompson is the president and CEO of the Times and makes $8.7M off a base salary in $1M (the rest is stock options and other compensation): http://wwd.com/business-news/media/the-new-york-times-reveals-pay-compensation-2015-top-execs-ceo-mark-thompson-arthur-sulzberger-10396303/ http://wwd.com/business-news/media/the-new-york-times-reveal... Executive editors are often at the "senior vice president" level, below the CEO and Publisher, and peers with execs who run the ad side. So I guess the NYT's exec editor is equivalent to Google's senior VPs of search, which has included John Giannandrea, Amit Singhal, and Marissa Meyer.
ptaipale 10y ago
> The UVA story, if she hadn't botched it, would have the potential to cause systemic change. That sounds scary. If the manufacturing of a story would have been more competent, it would have caused systemic change. Well, I guess that is what happens.