TV Newsrooms, It’s Time To Pay Up

Emily Barr

In the wake of the raid on the Marion County Kansas Record, much has been written about the First Amendment and its protection of a free press. Correctly so, as a sharp line has been drawn between freedom of the press and our democracy. Journalists and free press advocates have argued eloquently that our democracy will not survive without a strong, independent journalistic ecosystem to hold the powerful to account and shine a bright light on those who govern and lead. This is not easy work.

Asking tough questions, digging for information, researching, writing and reporting takes time, skill and stamina, and no one is expected to do this for free. Adding to this pressure, we have seen local television stations add hours of live, local news to their program schedules while barely adding staff. The result has often been an endless wheel of repetition that has helped drive audiences away and made it harder to generate advertising income in the process. Cord cutting and a disaggregated viewer base are only making things worse.

For too long, we have been told that the general public does not want to hear “complicated” stories and is tired of “bad news.” Yet were it not for nuanced stories and investigations, we might never know about lead-tainted water in Flint, Mich., or PFAS poisoning the food supply in rural Maine. We might fail to understand the implications of a re-districting plan that could very well eliminate the votes of thousands in a single county and the ripple effect that might have as it spreads, unchecked, across the country.

Caught in the middle of all of this are the journalists and videographers, producers and directors who are often underpaid and forced to choose between their passion for storytelling and their need to support themselves and their families.

Television news has always existed under a bit of two-tiered pay scale. On-air anchors and perhaps, the most seasoned and valued reporters have generally been paid well for their work. Top 25 markets have been known to pay their main anchors handsomely and union representation has, in some cases, allowed for a more-than-respectable rate of pay for most of a newsroom’s staff.

But go beyond the big cities and you might discover salaries that are the equivalent of minimum-wage positions found in a fast-food restaurant. It is no wonder that a recent RTDNA-Newhouse School survey shows that for the second year in a row, overall industry salary increases failed to keep up with inflation, dropping a cumulative 8.3% in real wages. This is bad news for budding journalists and is making life difficult for over-burdened news directors looking for new hires.

Years ago, I received a call from a young reporter who wanted some advice. He was working in a mid-size market under a contract but had recently taken a second job on the weekends just to make ends meet. After re-signing another two-year deal, he finally threw in the towel and took a job outside of journalism because he simply could not make it work. Just when he had gained some experience as a working journalist, he quit. What a shame.

Responsible broadcasters are trying to find ways to improve their overall benefits packages and some have created programs to help employees pay back their student loans or provide assistance with securing housing. These are great efforts, but they cannot replace the need for a living wage.

It is incumbent upon the owners of these companies that they consider the welfare of their employees and the impact their wage scales are having on both the organization and the individual employee, not to mention the viewers/users who rely on these newscasts and online feeds for vital information and perspective.

With rare exceptions, change cannot be implemented at the station level but must be tackled, head-on, by the corporate or group heads charged with defining their companies and delivering the bottom line to their owners. If they are serious about journalism, they need to own up to this challenge.

I am well aware of the pressure being exerted by corporate owners, many of whom are publicly traded and have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders to provide as much as a return as possible. But these owners also have a responsibility to their employees who sometimes find themselves in a financial bind.

In addition to damaging morale, low pay tends to thwart efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion, which only further exacerbates our inability to understand one another.

Perhaps most importantly, continuing to pay journalists less than a living wage robs each of us of our right to watch, read and listen to well-crafted, deeply researched stories that allow us the opportunity to ponder, understand and act as informed citizens of this sprawling and divided nation. And that is a damned shame.

Emily Barr is the former president and CEO of Graham Media Group.