Entry Level Pay

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?

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

$30K? Damn.

 

I ditto dat damn.

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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