Median Mean annual wage for a journalist, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: $43,170
Median Mean annual wage for a plumber: $47,350
Obviously, the TV talking heads and New York Times columnists are in another league altogether, but perhaps it bears noting on occasion that most reporters are also, you know, “working people” in a turbulent industry.
Update: D’oh! Let this be a lesson kids: That’s what happens when you blog half asleep.
5 responses so far ↓
1 jj // Nov 3, 2008 at 12:59 pm
They’re different, no? I’d wager that journalists have more work in a turbulent time.
2 Julian Sanchez // Nov 3, 2008 at 1:21 pm
By “turbulent” I mean that circulation, budget, and staff are falling at a lot of the traditional news outlets. The average reporter probably has as much reason to fear being laid off as the average (say) auto worker.
3 Kevin B. O'Reilly // Nov 3, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Only an elitist would consult official statistics to make his point. Seriously, though, most working journalists today are college-educated, which is still a pretty reliable class/elitism divider in this country.
4 Number 6 // Nov 3, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Actually, $43k sounds way high to me. I’d guess the median salary for print journalists is more like $25-30 k.
5 Ben // Nov 3, 2008 at 10:46 pm
You mixed up the median and the mean on the BLS website. The median is lower for both, but the difference is greater.