Average journalism major starting salary is...

I remember feeling that way many many eons ago. Things definitely have changed.

 

Big-city paper, and we had an executive editor who would make a point of saying, "Remember, we're not in this for the money" every time he announced the perils of downsizing while trying to turn it into a pep talk in the middle of the newsroom.

That would really grind on us. Constantly being told to do less with more, and that a 2 percent raise should be considered good if you can get it, and "don't think about the money," by a guy who was pulling down about $250K a year. All the big shots made sure to get out the door by 6 p.m. every day, too, because they knew how crazy it was for the night crew to put out the paper with those new, earlier deadlines.

Hey, we did care about the money. They got rid of most of us in the end, anyway.

 

All I can say from my experience is that this is not necessarily true.

We may not publish daily anymore, but they still pay me a good upper-middle-class wage. And it was never a worst-case scenario to get into this position.

And it's not necessarily something where you can come back with, "Well, you're in a special situation." I know other people in my general position at other newspapers around here. They're not in the poorhouse.

Let's put it this way: The compensation makes it damn near impossible to leave at this point in life.

 

jr -- you're a legacy from the old days, as are many of the people still sticking around. When you retire and they fill your position, the person filling it will make a third or a half less than you.

 

You're right LongTime. I'm afraid the guy who replaces me won't make enough to get Ramen noodles.

 

Some of you seem to be forgetting that some people, young people included, do start at big newspapers, do get hired then by bigger newspapers, do get promotions to better jobs.

 

You didn't say, "Not possible today with the exception of 'legacies from the old days'."

And by the way, I'm still trying to figure out what frat I pledged to wind up here.

 

Just like some people get scholarships and get drafted by the NFL. Sure it happens. Hardly the rule.

Also those people who are getting hired are getting hired largely because they'll work cheap. $50K in Boston isn't shit to a veteran, but it's more than all the money in the world to a young graduate. Also that young graduate doesn't put a family on the health plan. Company saves all around.

 

Read my post. It's pretty clear that I'm talking about the outlook in 20 years for people who start now. This is not that difficult to understand -- the idea that you're "not in it for the money" as if there is a character flaw in people who don't want to live in poverty is very misguided and uninformed.

 

That number is small and I suspect getting smaller every day. I'm not disputing what you say but there's no way the average salary of someone starting out is at $41,000.

 

AP had a pretty good three-part series recently on how job opportunities (and, of course, wages) are stagnant or falling in many different "middle class" fields:

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2013/jan/25/bc-us--the-great-reset-disappearing-jobs-1st-ld/

I would guess it's worse in journalism because unlike demand for airline tickets, banking services, etc., the demand for news in traditional media formats is plummeting.

 

$24,900. That $41k figure cannot be vaguely accurate. And doesn't account for thousands of j-school grads either not working or working as unpaid interns.