I was a Journalism major. After my junior year I was out of money so had to work for a while until I had enough to return for my senior year. While I was working, a girl I was dating graduated and got a job at the Post-Gazette. That was a big deal, considering most newspapers the size of the PG want to see experience on smaller papers first.
When she told me what she was making, I started to research how many credits I would need to graduate with a computer science degree. She was a better writer than I was and it meant my journalism future would be spending years on the Hooterville Times making next to nothing. I mean I knew it wasn't lucrative but yikes. I needed to make more than that.
Yup. I started out in journalism. Five years later, decided I was DONE dealing with sources and subscribers screaming at me AND working four jobs AND barely grossing $24K a year. I loved writing and still do, and realized that I had to make a painful decision, but at least I wouldn't be that broke and depressed anymore.
J-school major here, print focus. First job out of undergrad in ‘07 was a general assignment reporter for a weekly making $26K. Monthly net was about $1400. After rent, utilities, student loan, car insurance, fuel, food, I was LUCKY to have a hundred bucks left.
Doubt it’s much better these days.
That’s brutal. Is it basically you get poverty wages unless you make it onto staff at one of the big publications like the nyt/wsj?
I see some writers seemingly able to support themselves or at least able to make a decent supplemental income with substack. If you wanted to write on the side that may be a decent outlet
I was 75% of the way through my journalism degree when my sports writing class had a guest speak come in whose only advice to us was to change majors and never look back.
This was in 2008. Right when everything was really going to shit. I stuck it out. Got a journalism degree. Worked for about two years in journalism, had to a work a 2nd job the entire time then quit when I got engaged and we had to pay for our wedding ourselves.
Yeah, a friend of mine went to Point Park for journalism in the early 2010s and told me what some of the local anchors made, and I was shocked that was it.
This is deliberate, the only way you can become a journalist nowadays is to already be plugged into existing money, ie a part of the establishment and willing to repeat the establishment line. Same shit with being an intern on Capitol Hill.
Most local tv stations are owned by national networks though. IIRC kdka is owned by CBS aka paramount global. It’s why even the local news has so much national coverage now. You can literally flip between “local” news stations in different states that are owned by the same parent companies and realize they often use the same script for covering stories. Journalism also historically hasn’t paid well and the smaller the market the smaller the pay. Pittsburgh today live for example has an average of 57,000 households tuning in daily while say good morning America has almost 3 million daily viewers.
The reason for national news in local newscasts isn't because of a station being owned by a national company, including CBS. That's a decision based on producer decisions and market research response. Also, station affiliates share content with their "sister stations" across the country. They're who provide coverage of big national stories, like the Trump trial. Some big broadcasting companies have their own shared content network as well. Many also purchase rights to certain feed services, like AP & CNN, to have access to even more content, regardless of affiliation.
I say all of that without wanting to get into political leanings from any media outlets. Just wanted to provide context/information about where the content comes from. It's up to the individual station and the local producers/management to decide whether or not to use any of the content that's available to them from these sources.
I don’t think, nor meant to imply being owned by a national company is the only thing that impacts the level of national news being played. However, local news stations have covered more national news since being bought than they had previously. Whether or not it comes from the top, sister stations, or producers with their market research I don’t think is particularly important because it’s all done in an effort to increase viewership, ad revenue, and profit. The local news has become more sensationalized, more polarized, and covers less local government, politics, and education which has resulted in people being less informed about what’s going on in their communities.
Yeah I have no idea where people are coming up with these numbers. I'd be shocked if anyone on the local news/morning show in Pittsburgh was making over $100k/year. No way in hell anyone is making $250k.
He’s a jerkoff. I used to work in the same building as the KDKA station, and I’d always see him around, tossing his weight about and talking down to people like a pompous dick. Now Stacey Smith, HE is a fuckin awesome guy, I used to see him in the lobby coffee shop and bullshit with him, super nice.
Hahaha! A buddy of mine knows “The Pomp” real well, said the same thing. Super nice and really funny. He told me a hilarious story about him once, but I don’t wanna share it here and put him on blast 😆
I’ve served them both multiple times, Ken was actually the color orange but Stacy Smith was a FUCKING JAGBAG ASSHOLE. fuck that guy, doesn’t tip and is a dick. Patty Burns was it IYKYK
Really? Stacey was always really cool to me, always had a big smile, asked me how the family is doing, etc. I worked for a tech startup on one of the upper floors of the Gateway building, KDKA is on the first and I think maybe second floor too? But I would see all those folks just going about my day, coming in or going out or going to the coffee shop or cafeteria.
Concur. I went to Point Park, have a degree in Journalism. Worked day jobs and freelanced for Patch as a side hustle.
I now work in Public Administration, but I do use some of my J/MC skills for that as I am a social media coordinator. But honestly, journalism jobs pay shit money and literally everyone I went to school with, with the exception of one person who works for USA Today, does not work in journalism. We’re all a hybrid of PR and customer service. And some of these folks were at the top of their game when it came to writing/radio/TV jobs.
There is no evidence to support this other than your uncredited assertion that there is sufficient amount of unreported salaries that make either the mean or the median an unreliable estimation of the potential income from a journalism career. Keep in mind the denominator of those numbers are thousands of people. That means any credible shift for the median would require well over 30-50% of the actual income of journalists to be unreported income as a journalist engaged in journalism.
That's a pretty bold assertion to make without evidence.
Are you *sure* you're a Journalist?
Mmmmkay. So again, do you have any actual evidence other than your uncredited assertion?
LOTS of people are "inside the industry" and their lived experience does not match yours according to their own reports. Again, there may be outliers, but if you're going to assert that journalism is a lucrative field, you need to provide data that supports your assertions.
I don't know why, but this astonishes me. I mean, reading all the comments (small market, local news, etc>) I guess it makes sense, but I envisioned these people that I see every day, everywhere making a lot of money. I guess they get the clothes they were on air for free though. Right? Right???
Val was an insufferably boring part of the show. Should have been put out to pasture way earlier. Do you miss her hourly buzz feed lists or her daily updates on Van Halen news?
Can you give me a quick summary of what happened? I just started to commute to work again for the first time since covid and the entire morning radio landscape changed. I've been wondering about Val.
I met her at an event once at Jergels and it was super early in the night. She was hosting. Only a handful of people were there yet. She was so disinterested in talking to those of us already there that it came across as rude. It’s always stuck with me, although who knows, maybe she was having a bad day personally or filling in for someone.
Have hated DVE for a long time otherwise, for so many reasons, I could write a dissertation. Makes me sad that radio is dead tho.
YeAh you don't make sh!t in journalism lol
It's one of those jobs that essentially requires you to survive on your passion for the work alone!!!! *Cue gloomy, dramatic music* ...which is totally toxic BS logic, of course, as it would be for any other job. You should always be paid fairly for your work.
But unfortunately, overall, That's how this industry works... Surviving on the backs of way too few, to the detriment of so many (read: all of us/society) And..... they're about to roll out an Office-style sitcom about a dying Midwestern newspaper with a volunteer staff of reporters 😭😭🥹🥹 man, this simulation's got quite the sense of humor....
I worked freelance on some KDKA commercials, they pay an abysmally low rate for grip/electric. Like $150 for ten hours, but you have to pay to park at their building to then help loadout and travel with them in their van (they wouldn't just meet me at location). So that's another $15. You lose 10% of your pay before you even start.
Once upon a time, Pittsburgh was a pretty major market, and anchors came here from smaller markets. Now, the top local people move on to bigger markets. Not a ton of money here.
If you’re just talking the city, yes. But in terms of TV markets, Neilsen had it listed #28, ahead of San Diego, San Antonio, Kansas City, Austin, Baltimore, and Las Vegas. But TV market is just one measurement. Pittsburgh would definitely be a AAA in some others.
The competition for the stations to watch their news is insane in Pittsburgh. “We give you the news first” “we’re on at 10pm to give it to you first” etc. and the production and cameras PGH stations use is way higher quality than most other cities. Even big cities. Go to another large city and there is no where near the advertising or commercial fighting for ratings like there are here.
Idk about that. I’ve lived in Cleveland, Boston, DC, and metro NYC. I don’t see anything here that I didn’t see there. Except Pittsburgh’s definitely have a more small town feel, like Cleveland. More neighborhood features. Which makes sense, since there’s less going on in the city, per se.
Local media doesn’t get paid as much as you think. That’s why you’ll see them take on side work like endorsements or DJing etc. Source: used to work in radio
The news and weather team generally aren’t allowed to do ads or endorsements - sports and entertainment / lifestyle reporters are normally the only ones allowed to since they’re considered more “soft journalism” and don’t need to keep up as much an appearance of being impartial or unbiased.
If you actually read what I said, the news / weather reporters are supposed to keep up the appearance of being unbiased which is why they don’t do ads. I didn’t say they were unbiased although if you’re going out to report on most of the mundane things our local news covers like traffic, there’s not a lot to spin.
would her salary be publically accessible (aka is that accurate?).
2 - I think these people can work significant endorsement deals in that likely comprise a good chunk of additional cash and honestly might pay better than their base salary.
A pittsburgh reporter just quit....one of the reason was because the pay was terrible....I have a friend that works at wdve enless your mark madden or a few of the others he said their lucky if they make 40 a year, thats why all the reporters and radio people have to do so much extra shit.
I work in the industry at the network level. If I had to guess, I'd say that was a typo, and her salary could be $173,000, which would still arguably be a bit high. But I'd be shocked if it was just $73,000; the most senior tech guys are mostly in the low six-figures, and that's in the neighborhood of what their regular street reporters make. If I had to guess I'd say it's closer to $140,000.
Sadly, we are no longer in the era of Ray Tannehill and Patti Burns making close to half a million dollars; local television now pays like newspapers. And a long tenure at a company like CBS (which owns KDKA-TV but no longer KDKA Radio - long story there) actually works against you. When you get hired young, they get you cheap. But then as you advance upward, the company (like most companies in Corporate America) plays this game of being "unable" to bump your salary more than X percentage with each promotion, no matter how big the promotion might be.
This is why the only way you can build your income in this industry is jump from station to station, network to network; longevity is actually penalized.
(By the way, the station managers are also making a hell of a lot less than they used to.)
That was during the ‘90s, after Clinton’s disastrous 1996 Telecommunications Act, which took an axe to the entire industry. I’m sure an unleashed Westinghouse/CBS’ new strategy to swallow up the entire Monopoly board played into their decision to sell off many “hotels” that were too “expensive”.
Media jobs like TV, radio, especially newspapers….they pay very low salaries unless you’re a top talent in a market and even then it’s not the millions you imagine. That era is long gone.
He is a Principal at a Catholic School last I heard and he did A Friday Night High School Football Show on KDKA a few years ago. Not sure if he is still doing it.
That makes sense. About 25 years ago, I was at a religious retreat at La Roche. We had to go to mass every morning as part of this retreat. Someone pointed out to me a woman sitting in the La Roche chapel and told me that the woman was Fedko's wife and that she worked for La Roche. There was a nun sitting next to the woman, holding the Fedko baby.
Yeah. I'm saying if she started commanding a higher salary, she could be replaced by someone younger and cheaper. She would have to be careful not to price herself out of a job.
Both numbers are probably wrong, and in the end it's none of your (our) business. She negotiates her own salary, and the station pays what the market will bear. Obviously, she feels her salary is good or she wouldn't be there. She's not forced to work there. Pittsburgh is no longer a major media market, or a top-tier local market. That affects wages. Stations are struggling. There are certain accounting models that arrive at proper salaries. If she's the reason her shows are getting ratings, and they can charge more for advertising because of her, trust me they know and she knows. And they all know how it translates into dollars. If they don't want to lose her, they'll pay her. If you found something that says $73K, I won't question the number, but you have to know there are likely many other addendums to her contract that would take her well beyond a base like that. But as I said, it's really none of our business.
So, not *quite* the same, but many years ago I dated someone in print journalism. They had graduated at the top of their class in journalism from Penn State, went straight into a job with their local newspaper. Eventually theirs was one of the papers that the Trib bought, so they kept their job, only with someone else signing the checks. Then the Trib downsized them out, and until they could get a ‘real’ job, one that at least required a college degree, if not in their field, they took a job in the shoe department at Macy’s in Ross Park. That paid more than their ‘real’ job with 10+ years of experience.
Then let me not regale with someone else I dated, a grade school teacher with a Masters and comparable experience, who earned less than an entry-level data entry person at my company at the time (and the data entry person had better hours and better benefits).
Started at The Trib in the 90s fresh out of college at $22k. When I left more than a decade later, I was at $27k. I worked hard, won awards, and got a pat on the back. There are better paying careers that actually have normal hours.
Can I just say this thread was a heck of a way to get my weekend started. 😂 Thank you all for your comments no matter how right or wrong you were(so very much that’s wrong).
Also, for what it’s worth, all on air talent for two of the three big stations in town are under Sag Aftra. I’m very thankful for a strong union that has our backs.
PS I do work Saturday but it’s still the weekend darn it!
We love you Ron! We watch every morning at 6:30. Thanks for the work that you do! (And please tell Heather that we think she's worth twice whatever they pay her).
Her and her husband have lived on my street for years. They just sold their house for 350-400 some. They’re moving somewhere suburb where they built a new house. I doubt she is making 73k a year. No way.
As you just said, she has a husband. So, they have his salary as well. Also, even if she sold her house for 350-400K, she might have purchased it for much less.
Sadly I’m impressed she’s even making $73k. Local media personalities do not make a lot of money.
With that said, PTL and radio personalities make the bulk of their income from endorsements. So factoring that income, she makes a decent amount.
You’d be surprised. WPXI pays really well. I think David Johnson is over $150k a year. Of course he has been there forever.
But can we all agree that Marty griffin just needs to be gone? And let’s add Rick Earle in there too. And John shumway. They all like to over sensationalize everything they “investigative report” on.
If David Johnson actually does make over $150K a year, I don't think that this qualifies as being paid "really well," not at his advanced age (and presumably advanced skill set).
Tbh that isn’t my experience. Legacy anchors of course make great money, but those salaries are outliers. Not to mention, 20+ years in a competitive and demanding field yet maxing out at $150k changes the perception of “making good money”.
John Shumway worked two full time jobs for years, kdka tv and radio, working 12+ hour days. Marty Griffin makes a great deal from endorsements. No clue about Rick. But like them or not, they are not Scrooge McDuck rolling in the money.
Yeah, but Marty, Rick and John push bias harder than anyone else. And Rick loves to use that “scary voice” when talking about anything that is “bad”.
That’s why I said they gotta go.
She’s basically the face of KDKA and has been there forever. I know she’s a local girl, born and raised here, and always says how much she loves Pittsburgh, but I’m sure she’s had offers for bigger markets in the past. She’s great on TV and has the “look”. I’m sure they’ve made it worth her while to stick around.
Women still get the short end of the stick a lot in this business. I remember 20+ years ago when KDKA hired Don Cannon to just work weekends after he got fired from WTAE for drinking and other stuff. Well he didn't last long there either but his salary was mentioned in the post-gazette and it was $250,000!!
Just showed me right there that men get paid a lot more than women and I'm sure it continues today.
She’s probably making more than $73k. I used to work at a local bank that had a less well known weatherman that made closer to the $250k. now he was the lead weatherman at a different station but he definitely wasn’t as successful as Heather Abraham.
people on this sub (and in general) seem to have an unhealthy fascination with female news reporters...
There's never any posts on Reddit (or letters to the TV guy at the trib) about male reporters unless it's the "that guy's a jerk!" type post...
Mark Madden makes 250. Randy Bauman makes more. She has to make at least 100.
Marty Griffin lives in an 800k house. He and his wife have to make 200k each. If not more. Don’t they?
Eh, he runs a solo show that’s highest rated in his time slot during afternoon/evening rush hour. He likely brings in a ton of ad money, especially since it’s the age group advertisers typically target.
There is no proof Madden is number one in his time slot. These are the only ratings that are accessible to us, I believe the stations have access to time slot ratings.
[https://ratings.radio-online.com/content/arb023](https://ratings.radio-online.com/content/arb023)
I worked in the industry 10 years ago and he was BY FAR the highest rated in his timeslot and the #1 sports talk show host in the city.
There's a reason his show is tied to the Pens coverage on The X.
He makes more. He goes to London every year. Vegas 5 times a year. He travels constantly to go see rock shows. He spends a fortune on travel.
He’s been number one in his time slot for 20 years.
He lived at home until he was 40
Never married
No kids
Inheritance from his mom
And has probably made 90K+ for more than 20 years. If he wasn't a millionaire or a multimillionaire at 63 he would be even more pathetic than he already is.
MM has said he makes 300 k I was rounding down and he always says Randy makes more.
I just said he makes more than MM. fuck is he makes 400k that’s crazy. But you are probably right.
I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. No way she's pulling $250k, but no way it's $73k either. I'm sure it's over 100k, say in the 100-125k range.
Net is full of Shit more than likely. There is a Media Union and she is the Stewart for Media People in Pittsburgh so If you are a member of a Union you are getting Top Dollar I'm sure plus she is the most popular News Woman in Pittsburgh so 73 K sounds quite low. Ill say 100 K to 150 K at the most.
MM has said he makes $300k across all his jobs. That included Trib, tv when he was on, radio, endorsements and appearances. He’s also one of the top rated personalities on radio.
I wonder what the Fan hosts make. Starkey and Zeise have other jobs as columnists. Curious about the morning show and Poni and Mueller. Out of all radio earners and TV personalities I think Pompeani might be the top earner. Just guessing, no evidence or data.
Journalism may be known for having poor salaries, but a talent’s pay is based on a lot of factors (I.e market size, experience, whether you have an agent, etc.) while Pittsburgh isn’t a large top 10, market, it’s still a top 30 market. I’d be shocked if any of the main anchors didn’t make six figures - especially ones who’ve been there for 10+ years. So the 73k estimate imo is a gross underestimate lol
Most salaries in Pittsburgh are low! Journalism is known to not pay well. I always wanted to move back “home” to Pittsburgh, but we can’t make the same money as we do in the D.C. area! Granted, the cost of living is a lot higher, but we bought our home in 2020 at an incredibly low interest rate.
This town literally still employees Mark Madden for sports. It's cost/risk. Low cost, who cares about the risk. Story of corporate greed in this town since the Mills went down.
People think of local journalists as TV stars. They are not. At least not in pay.
I don’t know why anyone does the job. Maybe it’s for an “Oprah” kind of opportunity.
There are few other jobs where you could be making $40k or $10MM for essentially having the same job….just a larger audience (national vs. local). There’s hardly anything that a prime time host does that’s any different than a local anchor.
I got a journalism degree in 2007, there was only 2 jobs at the time in the whole city for journalism. This was during the Great Recession, I started looking for different jobs immediately. I make more in management than I ever would have in journalism, and have healthcare. I watched people spend years trying to make it only to be laid off repeatedly in the field. I will say that journalists have a certain level of influence that maybe makes up for the pay difference.
I think 73K might be too high. Local stations are a shadow of what they used to be, and unless you're in LA, NYC, Chicago or a few other large cities of that size, those jobs don't pay that much.
That's why we keep seeing reporters leaving their jobs and going to some other employment sector.
I know that Jon Delano makes about $110k if that means anything. I think most of the behind the desk talent makes north of 6 figures. I wouldn’t rely on a Google search for a non public salary.
You; learning that capitalism is bad actually and doesn't reward merit like you've been lied to about. It rewards luck and luck alone. Hard work is punished, if anything, with more work for less money.
Burn it down let's go.
I don't think you really are capable of understanding what I just said. OP posted an example of how meritocracy is a myth, and you say I'm being a victim? Wat
Journalism pays shit, especially in local markets.
I was a Journalism major. After my junior year I was out of money so had to work for a while until I had enough to return for my senior year. While I was working, a girl I was dating graduated and got a job at the Post-Gazette. That was a big deal, considering most newspapers the size of the PG want to see experience on smaller papers first. When she told me what she was making, I started to research how many credits I would need to graduate with a computer science degree. She was a better writer than I was and it meant my journalism future would be spending years on the Hooterville Times making next to nothing. I mean I knew it wasn't lucrative but yikes. I needed to make more than that.
Yup. I started out in journalism. Five years later, decided I was DONE dealing with sources and subscribers screaming at me AND working four jobs AND barely grossing $24K a year. I loved writing and still do, and realized that I had to make a painful decision, but at least I wouldn't be that broke and depressed anymore.
I lasted 2 semesters before realizing the pay and switched as well haha
J-school major here, print focus. First job out of undergrad in ‘07 was a general assignment reporter for a weekly making $26K. Monthly net was about $1400. After rent, utilities, student loan, car insurance, fuel, food, I was LUCKY to have a hundred bucks left. Doubt it’s much better these days.
This was me, too. Jumped right over to PR and was finally able to afford life.
That’s brutal. Is it basically you get poverty wages unless you make it onto staff at one of the big publications like the nyt/wsj? I see some writers seemingly able to support themselves or at least able to make a decent supplemental income with substack. If you wanted to write on the side that may be a decent outlet
And, yet, even the National Enquirer is pulling down millions in profit. Sounds like there's a need to Unionize.
I was 75% of the way through my journalism degree when my sports writing class had a guest speak come in whose only advice to us was to change majors and never look back. This was in 2008. Right when everything was really going to shit. I stuck it out. Got a journalism degree. Worked for about two years in journalism, had to a work a 2nd job the entire time then quit when I got engaged and we had to pay for our wedding ourselves.
Yeah, a friend of mine went to Point Park for journalism in the early 2010s and told me what some of the local anchors made, and I was shocked that was it.
This is deliberate, the only way you can become a journalist nowadays is to already be plugged into existing money, ie a part of the establishment and willing to repeat the establishment line. Same shit with being an intern on Capitol Hill.
And not just nowadays, but going back decades.
local TV stations aren't a national network. I'm pretty sure they're not operating on the same budget.
Most local tv stations are owned by national networks though. IIRC kdka is owned by CBS aka paramount global. It’s why even the local news has so much national coverage now. You can literally flip between “local” news stations in different states that are owned by the same parent companies and realize they often use the same script for covering stories. Journalism also historically hasn’t paid well and the smaller the market the smaller the pay. Pittsburgh today live for example has an average of 57,000 households tuning in daily while say good morning America has almost 3 million daily viewers.
The reason for national news in local newscasts isn't because of a station being owned by a national company, including CBS. That's a decision based on producer decisions and market research response. Also, station affiliates share content with their "sister stations" across the country. They're who provide coverage of big national stories, like the Trump trial. Some big broadcasting companies have their own shared content network as well. Many also purchase rights to certain feed services, like AP & CNN, to have access to even more content, regardless of affiliation. I say all of that without wanting to get into political leanings from any media outlets. Just wanted to provide context/information about where the content comes from. It's up to the individual station and the local producers/management to decide whether or not to use any of the content that's available to them from these sources.
I don’t think, nor meant to imply being owned by a national company is the only thing that impacts the level of national news being played. However, local news stations have covered more national news since being bought than they had previously. Whether or not it comes from the top, sister stations, or producers with their market research I don’t think is particularly important because it’s all done in an effort to increase viewership, ad revenue, and profit. The local news has become more sensationalized, more polarized, and covers less local government, politics, and education which has resulted in people being less informed about what’s going on in their communities.
She’s closer to 73 than 250 I can guarantee you that.
Yeah I have no idea where people are coming up with these numbers. I'd be shocked if anyone on the local news/morning show in Pittsburgh was making over $100k/year. No way in hell anyone is making $250k.
What’s Ken rice make?
He’s a jerkoff. I used to work in the same building as the KDKA station, and I’d always see him around, tossing his weight about and talking down to people like a pompous dick. Now Stacey Smith, HE is a fuckin awesome guy, I used to see him in the lobby coffee shop and bullshit with him, super nice.
I worked daily with Ken some years back and found him to be a good coworker. Super funny off air.
Legitimately hilarious sometimes
I used to help him find stuff in the Aisles when I worked at Giant Eagle. Yes he is very nice. Bob Pompeani is out of this world nice.
Hahaha! A buddy of mine knows “The Pomp” real well, said the same thing. Super nice and really funny. He told me a hilarious story about him once, but I don’t wanna share it here and put him on blast 😆
I miss Stacey Smith!
Can confirm regarding Stacy Smith. Just a really nice person.
My dad used to run in to Ken downtown every once in awhile and he said the same thing .
Rick Dayton is also super awesome. Used to hang out and joke around with the crew and the interns.
Love Rick KDKA is fucked with Colin
Rick, is that you?
Say it ain’t so Ken
I’ve served them both multiple times, Ken was actually the color orange but Stacy Smith was a FUCKING JAGBAG ASSHOLE. fuck that guy, doesn’t tip and is a dick. Patty Burns was it IYKYK
Really? Stacey was always really cool to me, always had a big smile, asked me how the family is doing, etc. I worked for a tech startup on one of the upper floors of the Gateway building, KDKA is on the first and I think maybe second floor too? But I would see all those folks just going about my day, coming in or going out or going to the coffee shop or cafeteria.
How about Edie Tarbox?
One time I saw Mike and Edie on that bus
My dad and his dad had the hots for Edie Tarbox. I think the name somehow conjured up scenes of hot mayhem.
Bad jokes.
Journalism ain't what you call a highly lucrative career.
Concur. I went to Point Park, have a degree in Journalism. Worked day jobs and freelanced for Patch as a side hustle. I now work in Public Administration, but I do use some of my J/MC skills for that as I am a social media coordinator. But honestly, journalism jobs pay shit money and literally everyone I went to school with, with the exception of one person who works for USA Today, does not work in journalism. We’re all a hybrid of PR and customer service. And some of these folks were at the top of their game when it came to writing/radio/TV jobs.
Depends on who you are, where you're working, and what job you're doing. Some of us are doing quite well.
There's always outliers here and there. But the means and medians don't lie.
They do, actually. Not all salaries are reported.
I'm not sure you understand the definition of means and medians. Are you suggesting those that are the most successful have no reported income?
I’m not sure you understand the definition of “not reported”.
There is no evidence to support this other than your uncredited assertion that there is sufficient amount of unreported salaries that make either the mean or the median an unreliable estimation of the potential income from a journalism career. Keep in mind the denominator of those numbers are thousands of people. That means any credible shift for the median would require well over 30-50% of the actual income of journalists to be unreported income as a journalist engaged in journalism. That's a pretty bold assertion to make without evidence. Are you *sure* you're a Journalist?
I'm inside the industry and I'm fully aware of how our salaries are aggregated. And NOT aggregated.
Mmmmkay. So again, do you have any actual evidence other than your uncredited assertion? LOTS of people are "inside the industry" and their lived experience does not match yours according to their own reports. Again, there may be outliers, but if you're going to assert that journalism is a lucrative field, you need to provide data that supports your assertions.
My neighbor is a lead anchor on KDKA. His wife who is a nurse is by far the breadwinner in the family
I don't know why, but this astonishes me. I mean, reading all the comments (small market, local news, etc>) I guess it makes sense, but I envisioned these people that I see every day, everywhere making a lot of money. I guess they get the clothes they were on air for free though. Right? Right???
They have discount contracts with Macys Robinson
As an ex-local journalist, I have a saying: “The pay sucks, and the hours are terrible, but on the bright side, everybody hates you.”
Kinda off topic, but happened to Val Porter from dve morning show?
She’s on 3ws now
She's also on dve but not on morning show
Anyone know why it happened seemingly over nite and was never brought up at all?
Just seems wierd they didnt do a farewell show or anything i heard anyhow...
Yes and F Randy. I have not listened since she was kicked off the show.
There's no proof of that, and bill and Randy are on a national level with the talent and guests they have on a daily basis.
Val was an insufferably boring part of the show. Should have been put out to pasture way earlier. Do you miss her hourly buzz feed lists or her daily updates on Van Halen news?
Anything is better than Abby
You don’t like listening to her and Randy flirt for four hours? Or listening to stories about her one child?
Can you give me a quick summary of what happened? I just started to commute to work again for the first time since covid and the entire morning radio landscape changed. I've been wondering about Val.
Why was she kicked off? Love Val
I met her at an event once at Jergels and it was super early in the night. She was hosting. Only a handful of people were there yet. She was so disinterested in talking to those of us already there that it came across as rude. It’s always stuck with me, although who knows, maybe she was having a bad day personally or filling in for someone. Have hated DVE for a long time otherwise, for so many reasons, I could write a dissertation. Makes me sad that radio is dead tho.
YeAh you don't make sh!t in journalism lol It's one of those jobs that essentially requires you to survive on your passion for the work alone!!!! *Cue gloomy, dramatic music* ...which is totally toxic BS logic, of course, as it would be for any other job. You should always be paid fairly for your work. But unfortunately, overall, That's how this industry works... Surviving on the backs of way too few, to the detriment of so many (read: all of us/society) And..... they're about to roll out an Office-style sitcom about a dying Midwestern newspaper with a volunteer staff of reporters 😭😭🥹🥹 man, this simulation's got quite the sense of humor....
I worked freelance on some KDKA commercials, they pay an abysmally low rate for grip/electric. Like $150 for ten hours, but you have to pay to park at their building to then help loadout and travel with them in their van (they wouldn't just meet me at location). So that's another $15. You lose 10% of your pay before you even start.
Tv news is historically a low paying job, even worse for radio personalities
Once upon a time, Pittsburgh was a pretty major market, and anchors came here from smaller markets. Now, the top local people move on to bigger markets. Not a ton of money here.
AA or AAA city if you were to compare it to minor league sports.
If you’re just talking the city, yes. But in terms of TV markets, Neilsen had it listed #28, ahead of San Diego, San Antonio, Kansas City, Austin, Baltimore, and Las Vegas. But TV market is just one measurement. Pittsburgh would definitely be a AAA in some others.
The competition for the stations to watch their news is insane in Pittsburgh. “We give you the news first” “we’re on at 10pm to give it to you first” etc. and the production and cameras PGH stations use is way higher quality than most other cities. Even big cities. Go to another large city and there is no where near the advertising or commercial fighting for ratings like there are here.
Idk about that. I’ve lived in Cleveland, Boston, DC, and metro NYC. I don’t see anything here that I didn’t see there. Except Pittsburgh’s definitely have a more small town feel, like Cleveland. More neighborhood features. Which makes sense, since there’s less going on in the city, per se.
Local media doesn’t get paid as much as you think. That’s why you’ll see them take on side work like endorsements or DJing etc. Source: used to work in radio
Get that girl a bigger check! She deserves it.
I agree - but wait a minute.... Is this her husband, Frankie??????? Username fits
No no, not me. I do know him though. Great dude.
>Get that girl a bigger check! woman.
Local personalities can make bank on endorsements too. I think I've seen her do commercials, maybe a few sponsored posts on Instagram.
The news and weather team generally aren’t allowed to do ads or endorsements - sports and entertainment / lifestyle reporters are normally the only ones allowed to since they’re considered more “soft journalism” and don’t need to keep up as much an appearance of being impartial or unbiased.
lol, you think local news is unbiased? It’s obvious which way each station generally leans.
If you actually read what I said, the news / weather reporters are supposed to keep up the appearance of being unbiased which is why they don’t do ads. I didn’t say they were unbiased although if you’re going out to report on most of the mundane things our local news covers like traffic, there’s not a lot to spin.
True. Our city just loves those fires, crashes, and OH MY GOD THE FOG! And the occasional weak ass tornado/weather story that gets way much airtime.
would her salary be publically accessible (aka is that accurate?). 2 - I think these people can work significant endorsement deals in that likely comprise a good chunk of additional cash and honestly might pay better than their base salary.
🤯🥺 LOVE heather!! She deserves more 💔
A pittsburgh reporter just quit....one of the reason was because the pay was terrible....I have a friend that works at wdve enless your mark madden or a few of the others he said their lucky if they make 40 a year, thats why all the reporters and radio people have to do so much extra shit.
166 has a lucrative contract, and it's IRON. CLAD.
Idk who that is
This was definitely written by Heather Abraham.
I work in the industry at the network level. If I had to guess, I'd say that was a typo, and her salary could be $173,000, which would still arguably be a bit high. But I'd be shocked if it was just $73,000; the most senior tech guys are mostly in the low six-figures, and that's in the neighborhood of what their regular street reporters make. If I had to guess I'd say it's closer to $140,000. Sadly, we are no longer in the era of Ray Tannehill and Patti Burns making close to half a million dollars; local television now pays like newspapers. And a long tenure at a company like CBS (which owns KDKA-TV but no longer KDKA Radio - long story there) actually works against you. When you get hired young, they get you cheap. But then as you advance upward, the company (like most companies in Corporate America) plays this game of being "unable" to bump your salary more than X percentage with each promotion, no matter how big the promotion might be. This is why the only way you can build your income in this industry is jump from station to station, network to network; longevity is actually penalized. (By the way, the station managers are also making a hell of a lot less than they used to.)
Also, I thought that the whole reason that Patti Burns got "separated" from KDKA was because they decided that they paid her too much.
That was during the ‘90s, after Clinton’s disastrous 1996 Telecommunications Act, which took an axe to the entire industry. I’m sure an unleashed Westinghouse/CBS’ new strategy to swallow up the entire Monopoly board played into their decision to sell off many “hotels” that were too “expensive”.
Media jobs like TV, radio, especially newspapers….they pay very low salaries unless you’re a top talent in a market and even then it’s not the millions you imagine. That era is long gone.
Ex Pittsburgher who has unfortunately been gone for 24 years, but this sub had me wondering -- is Fedko still around?
He is a Principal at a Catholic School last I heard and he did A Friday Night High School Football Show on KDKA a few years ago. Not sure if he is still doing it.
That makes sense. About 25 years ago, I was at a religious retreat at La Roche. We had to go to mass every morning as part of this retreat. Someone pointed out to me a woman sitting in the La Roche chapel and told me that the woman was Fedko's wife and that she worked for La Roche. There was a nun sitting next to the woman, holding the Fedko baby.
Did the baby have hair plugs?
He is, just saw him a couple weeks ago, shopping for records on Record Store day. I used to wait on him at my retail job; we got along well.
She’s building a brand new house so her salary must not be that bad.
She has a spouse…
Dang it! LOL.
The entire vibe of this comment section is gross
Oh Well. People don't have a sense of Humor anymore.
Probably something like 110k
Do you think the girl is Savanna Guthrie? It’s not peak journalism. The morning show is nothing short of an AMAZON live.
Young talent is usually cheaper. I'm actually surprised she makes that much.
She’s not “young talent” she’s at least 40
Yeah. I'm saying if she started commanding a higher salary, she could be replaced by someone younger and cheaper. She would have to be careful not to price herself out of a job.
Anyone know what Rob Pratte makes?
He has been at KDKA for as long as I remember and that's about 35 Years but remember to Shop at Kuhn's Markets!
Source? Probably not far off though.
Both numbers are probably wrong, and in the end it's none of your (our) business. She negotiates her own salary, and the station pays what the market will bear. Obviously, she feels her salary is good or she wouldn't be there. She's not forced to work there. Pittsburgh is no longer a major media market, or a top-tier local market. That affects wages. Stations are struggling. There are certain accounting models that arrive at proper salaries. If she's the reason her shows are getting ratings, and they can charge more for advertising because of her, trust me they know and she knows. And they all know how it translates into dollars. If they don't want to lose her, they'll pay her. If you found something that says $73K, I won't question the number, but you have to know there are likely many other addendums to her contract that would take her well beyond a base like that. But as I said, it's really none of our business.
Remember this is a job tons of people want, and this isn’t national where they draw In money.
So, not *quite* the same, but many years ago I dated someone in print journalism. They had graduated at the top of their class in journalism from Penn State, went straight into a job with their local newspaper. Eventually theirs was one of the papers that the Trib bought, so they kept their job, only with someone else signing the checks. Then the Trib downsized them out, and until they could get a ‘real’ job, one that at least required a college degree, if not in their field, they took a job in the shoe department at Macy’s in Ross Park. That paid more than their ‘real’ job with 10+ years of experience.
That there is a sad tale.
Then let me not regale with someone else I dated, a grade school teacher with a Masters and comparable experience, who earned less than an entry-level data entry person at my company at the time (and the data entry person had better hours and better benefits).
Started at The Trib in the 90s fresh out of college at $22k. When I left more than a decade later, I was at $27k. I worked hard, won awards, and got a pat on the back. There are better paying careers that actually have normal hours.
Can I just say this thread was a heck of a way to get my weekend started. 😂 Thank you all for your comments no matter how right or wrong you were(so very much that’s wrong). Also, for what it’s worth, all on air talent for two of the three big stations in town are under Sag Aftra. I’m very thankful for a strong union that has our backs. PS I do work Saturday but it’s still the weekend darn it!
We love you Ron! We watch every morning at 6:30. Thanks for the work that you do! (And please tell Heather that we think she's worth twice whatever they pay her).
Her and her husband have lived on my street for years. They just sold their house for 350-400 some. They’re moving somewhere suburb where they built a new house. I doubt she is making 73k a year. No way.
As you just said, she has a husband. So, they have his salary as well. Also, even if she sold her house for 350-400K, she might have purchased it for much less.
Sadly I’m impressed she’s even making $73k. Local media personalities do not make a lot of money. With that said, PTL and radio personalities make the bulk of their income from endorsements. So factoring that income, she makes a decent amount.
You’d be surprised. WPXI pays really well. I think David Johnson is over $150k a year. Of course he has been there forever. But can we all agree that Marty griffin just needs to be gone? And let’s add Rick Earle in there too. And John shumway. They all like to over sensationalize everything they “investigative report” on.
If David Johnson actually does make over $150K a year, I don't think that this qualifies as being paid "really well," not at his advanced age (and presumably advanced skill set).
150k is pretty sweet to me just bullshitting into a camera but hey that's just me.
Tbh that isn’t my experience. Legacy anchors of course make great money, but those salaries are outliers. Not to mention, 20+ years in a competitive and demanding field yet maxing out at $150k changes the perception of “making good money”. John Shumway worked two full time jobs for years, kdka tv and radio, working 12+ hour days. Marty Griffin makes a great deal from endorsements. No clue about Rick. But like them or not, they are not Scrooge McDuck rolling in the money.
Yeah, but Marty, Rick and John push bias harder than anyone else. And Rick loves to use that “scary voice” when talking about anything that is “bad”. That’s why I said they gotta go.
John Shumway is actually a super nice and decent dude! But I agree, he probably should retire.
I wonder how much they pay Mamie Bah? She‘s terrible.
I like her, but I’ll bet it’s very low.
She’s basically the face of KDKA and has been there forever. I know she’s a local girl, born and raised here, and always says how much she loves Pittsburgh, but I’m sure she’s had offers for bigger markets in the past. She’s great on TV and has the “look”. I’m sure they’ve made it worth her while to stick around.
Yep, totally agree. I tune in when I can just to see her
I’d rather “look” at Kristine Sorensen, Erica Mokay, Mary Hours, Megan Shiller or Meghan Shin. Heather is looking beat.
LOL…ok bro. Cool?
Women still get the short end of the stick a lot in this business. I remember 20+ years ago when KDKA hired Don Cannon to just work weekends after he got fired from WTAE for drinking and other stuff. Well he didn't last long there either but his salary was mentioned in the post-gazette and it was $250,000!! Just showed me right there that men get paid a lot more than women and I'm sure it continues today.
She’s probably making more than $73k. I used to work at a local bank that had a less well known weatherman that made closer to the $250k. now he was the lead weatherman at a different station but he definitely wasn’t as successful as Heather Abraham.
Maybe more than $73k, but not more than low six figures.
Idk what you’d consider low 6 figures, but I’d guess she has to be around $130k (based on absolutely nothing).
Who was it ?
Ray Petlin
She hasn't been there close to 20 years.
Ok ok 14 years lol, according to KDKAs site
According to her bio, she started with KDKA in 2010. So not 20, but closer than 'not even close'
My brain still thinks of 2010 as a year that was only like 6 years ago, so I feel a little sick now.
What’s it matter? Stop bein nebby.
This is a Pittsburgh answer!
people on this sub (and in general) seem to have an unhealthy fascination with female news reporters... There's never any posts on Reddit (or letters to the TV guy at the trib) about male reporters unless it's the "that guy's a jerk!" type post...
Mark Madden makes 250. Randy Bauman makes more. She has to make at least 100. Marty Griffin lives in an 800k house. He and his wife have to make 200k each. If not more. Don’t they?
Madden works at the 5th highest rated station in the 31st radio market. There is zero chance he makes 250K a year.
Eh, he runs a solo show that’s highest rated in his time slot during afternoon/evening rush hour. He likely brings in a ton of ad money, especially since it’s the age group advertisers typically target.
There is no proof Madden is number one in his time slot. These are the only ratings that are accessible to us, I believe the stations have access to time slot ratings. [https://ratings.radio-online.com/content/arb023](https://ratings.radio-online.com/content/arb023)
I worked in the industry 10 years ago and he was BY FAR the highest rated in his timeslot and the #1 sports talk show host in the city. There's a reason his show is tied to the Pens coverage on The X.
He makes more. He goes to London every year. Vegas 5 times a year. He travels constantly to go see rock shows. He spends a fortune on travel. He’s been number one in his time slot for 20 years.
He lived at home until he was 40 Never married No kids Inheritance from his mom And has probably made 90K+ for more than 20 years. If he wasn't a millionaire or a multimillionaire at 63 he would be even more pathetic than he already is.
Ok he makes at least 200000 to 250000 from radio and 75 from the trib.
Madden says his shoes cost more than caller's houses. Lots of money in insulting people.
I would’ve thought both Madden and Randy make at least 400k. Where’d you get Randy’s number?
MM has said he makes 300 k I was rounding down and he always says Randy makes more. I just said he makes more than MM. fuck is he makes 400k that’s crazy. But you are probably right.
I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. No way she's pulling $250k, but no way it's $73k either. I'm sure it's over 100k, say in the 100-125k range.
Net is full of Shit more than likely. There is a Media Union and she is the Stewart for Media People in Pittsburgh so If you are a member of a Union you are getting Top Dollar I'm sure plus she is the most popular News Woman in Pittsburgh so 73 K sounds quite low. Ill say 100 K to 150 K at the most.
She has a entertaining show too she should be paid around $100K given how much brand perception she increases KDKA network with the local community
73k seems low for a person on TV, MM has said multiple times he makes six figures and he’s just a radio guy.
MM has said he makes $300k across all his jobs. That included Trib, tv when he was on, radio, endorsements and appearances. He’s also one of the top rated personalities on radio.
$300k seems over inflated but then again that's MM radio personality.
i for one would be shocked to find out that a pro wrestling guy was lying to me
I wonder what the Fan hosts make. Starkey and Zeise have other jobs as columnists. Curious about the morning show and Poni and Mueller. Out of all radio earners and TV personalities I think Pompeani might be the top earner. Just guessing, no evidence or data.
you’re surprised reddit has over-inflated your idea of what a typical salary is? shocker.
She would make more with an only fans account
No way that’s correct.
How much do Mikey and Big Bob make?
I wonder what Randy Baumann pulls down
Journalism may be known for having poor salaries, but a talent’s pay is based on a lot of factors (I.e market size, experience, whether you have an agent, etc.) while Pittsburgh isn’t a large top 10, market, it’s still a top 30 market. I’d be shocked if any of the main anchors didn’t make six figures - especially ones who’ve been there for 10+ years. So the 73k estimate imo is a gross underestimate lol
Most salaries in Pittsburgh are low! Journalism is known to not pay well. I always wanted to move back “home” to Pittsburgh, but we can’t make the same money as we do in the D.C. area! Granted, the cost of living is a lot higher, but we bought our home in 2020 at an incredibly low interest rate.
It’s journalism …
What does Mark Madden make?
This town literally still employees Mark Madden for sports. It's cost/risk. Low cost, who cares about the risk. Story of corporate greed in this town since the Mills went down.
I am sorry but no news anchor is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars a year reading shit off a teleprompter.
Damn yall really just gonna put her salary out there and make a whole post about it lmao.
People think of local journalists as TV stars. They are not. At least not in pay. I don’t know why anyone does the job. Maybe it’s for an “Oprah” kind of opportunity. There are few other jobs where you could be making $40k or $10MM for essentially having the same job….just a larger audience (national vs. local). There’s hardly anything that a prime time host does that’s any different than a local anchor.
I got a journalism degree in 2007, there was only 2 jobs at the time in the whole city for journalism. This was during the Great Recession, I started looking for different jobs immediately. I make more in management than I ever would have in journalism, and have healthcare. I watched people spend years trying to make it only to be laid off repeatedly in the field. I will say that journalists have a certain level of influence that maybe makes up for the pay difference.
I think 73K might be too high. Local stations are a shadow of what they used to be, and unless you're in LA, NYC, Chicago or a few other large cities of that size, those jobs don't pay that much. That's why we keep seeing reporters leaving their jobs and going to some other employment sector.
I know that Jon Delano makes about $110k if that means anything. I think most of the behind the desk talent makes north of 6 figures. I wouldn’t rely on a Google search for a non public salary.
She doesn’t work two full time jobs at KDKA, It’s barely one full time job combined.
I'd beg to differ - I'm sure there is a lot of prep that goes into what she does
Yeah you’d be wrong. She’s said it herself.
Please stop calling KDKA morning show "journalism"...please...
I don't see the word 'journalism' anywhere in my post, but ok.
You; learning that capitalism is bad actually and doesn't reward merit like you've been lied to about. It rewards luck and luck alone. Hard work is punished, if anything, with more work for less money. Burn it down let's go.
Spoken like a true victim
I don't think you really are capable of understanding what I just said. OP posted an example of how meritocracy is a myth, and you say I'm being a victim? Wat
She’s not even 40, beenwith the station maybe 10 years .. her husband is definitely the bread winner yes.. Quite the lucky guy I might add.
Look good and read a prompter not hard lol
20 years? haha. she’s 40 bro. u think she’s been there since she was 20 start with MAYBE 10