Thursday 26 March 2009

It's 30k for a reporter in the public sector

Look at the pay being offered by the new fortnightly newspaper-style publication being launched by the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham.
An ad in MediaGuardian on Monday shows the council is offering the deputy editor of the new publication, called The News, from £33,081 up to £35,000; a sub/designer from £30,591 to £33,081; and reporters from £29,223 up to £31,353.
The salaries are more than competitive with the local press, even before the current crisis in the regional newspaper industry.
The News is the kind of newspaper-style council paper that is causing serious concern among newspaper publishers. The council has said it will withdraw all but statutory advertising from the local press and will compete for commercial business.
When I did a story about it for Press Gazette, Chris Carter, the editor of the Barking and Dagenham Recorder, described The News as a “stab in the back”.

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