Media Jobs = Low Pay

The Shop Talk panelists discuss a recent item on the Forbes website that lists reporters and announcers among the 13 surprisingly low-paid jobs.

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The magazine used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It found the mean annual income for reporters and correspondents is $43,640. The bottom 10% make $20,000.

The mean annual income for radio and television announcers is $40,510. The bottom 10% make $17,150.

The figures come as no surprise to the Shop Talk panelists. Pay is especially low in small markets, and even though salaries are considerably higher in large markets, the cost of living is much higher too.

The panelists agree it’s largely a matter of supply and demand. Reporting and announcing can be fun and interesting and, as a result, more people want to go into those fields than there are jobs available.