How much does a journalist get paid for writing an article and on what basis?

Question

Can one get $1/word for example? Does pay by word/piece/month happen? Which is more common? Could anyone provide a rough classification, like how much top, median and low-paid journalists are paid?

Answer 1

Your question is very general but allow me to attempt to break it down for a clearer picture;

1- Fresh grads, free lancers and amateurs are usually paid based on number of words - post editing. The average rate is usually in the range of 20-30 cents.

2- Experienced writers/ journalists are either paid by number of words or per article. The rate is usually in the range of 50-70 cents, by article it varies, there is no range really.

3- Senior writers, those who are committed to a publication are on the payroll of the organization and their income varies, usually above $200k/ annum.

I also need to emphasise that it also depends on the field of specilization. Do not expect a fashion or society related magazine to pay its contributors a lot, simply because there are a lot of people out there that can do so. When it comes to more specialized topic/ issues especially scientific, economic and political ones, they are usually written by experienced and well known professors, political analysts etc and these are paid well.