My curiosity has gotten the best of me.

I could give you a ballpark figure, but it's for a Prep Editor, not prep writer, so they probably make more. I know of a PE who left Michigan for Alabama. He was at a 15K daily in Bama and made 38K. If you're talking daily much larger, 50,000+ or 100,000+ they likely make much more, depending on the state and cost of living in the area. If you started out at 11 bucks an hour, you may have been sitting with guys who make close to twice as much as you do.

 

exactly. look, i'm not even in the business so i'm speaking only hypothetically (and when i was in the business i'm sure i was never the highest paid reporter anywhere) but my reasoning goes like this: say i make $75K and i'm fairly sure i'm on the high end of the scale. others are topping out at $60-65K or whatever. although the bump wouldn't happen overnight, if everyone else managed to convince management that they deserved more, their increases over the next few years would leave less money to increase my salary because i would have no leverage to convince management i need more. there is only a finite amount of money, or at least a finite amount that a company is willing to spend on payroll. anyway, call me selfish but everyone has to look out for number one. so my solution is never to ask or say anything.

 

I completely disagree.

And yes, that's pretty damn selfish -- but you already knew that.

 

50 or 60k? No way. I was a lede preps writer at a major metro and making $35k.

 

Ouch.

 

$32-38K seems pretty standard to start 'round these parts.