Why do so many reporters and editors believe  that federal workers are overpaid?  Do they just like to kick “bureaucrats”? Are they too lazy to check job comparisons given them by think tanks with a philosophical axe to grind? Are they comfortable (or too lazy) to check data  supplied to them by anti-government groups who want a bigger piece of the federal salary dollar?

Or, could it be much simpler than that? Could it be they just found out how much their federal neighbor, or sister-in-law, earns in his or her civil service job?

According to The NewsGuild -CWA (AFL-CIO) a reporter at The New York Times after two years of service is paid a contract minimum of $1,849.66.  Or about $96,182 per year.  That reporter can be paid more, of course.  Some are. Many, many are.

In order to match her contract salary at the Times, a reporter moving into a government job in the Washington metro area would have to find a GS-12 slot at the ninth longevity step. That salary is $96,750.

Reporters at  The Washington Post for obvious reasons, pay a lot of attention to the government and government workers.  According to the Newspaper Guild data, a Post reporter after six years must be paid at  least $1069.30, per week, or about $55,600 per year.  To equal that salary in government, the reporter would have to find a job at the Grade 9 level, where a step 3 employee gets $56,178.

According to the CWA information the Times is the top-paying union newspaper followed by a number of Canadian newspapers, the  Sacramento Bee,   the Minneapolis-Star Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, then papers in Boston, Denver and St. Paul. But raw minimum figures can be deceiving.  In fact, many Post reporters probably make more than their counterparts in papers with higher contract minimums.  In some cases, probably, a lot more.

On the CWA pay chart papers in Philadelphia  ($1,273 per week); Buffalo ($$1,229.00) St. Louis and San Jose ($1,166 per week) make more than the minimum salaries at The Washington Post.  But again, most Post reporters probably make as much or more than their counterparts in dozens of cities that have higher contractural minimums.

Also, lots of newspaper salaries are woefully low.  Just ask reporters at the Gary (Ind.)  Post Tribune ($703), the Pawtucket Times and the Woonsocket Call ($630 weekly), or the Dayton Daily News ($394.62), where the contract minimum after one year of service is $394.62.  But not necessarily the salary of all (or even any) reporters at that level.

Bottom line:  Are reporters paid more or less than their counterparts in government? And who are their counterparts: NASA scientists or public affairs officers?

News reporters, on average, earn about $37,000 nationwide. Federal workers, in the same jobs, earn the same salaries with slight location differentials.  Apples to oranges?  Comparing is tough.

The numbers can be used to prove lots of things. So the first question is what do you want the answer to be?

Meantime, ask yourself how many former newspaper men/women have gone into government vs. how many former feds have taken jobs (below the anchor level) in the media.  That may be your answer.

Special thanks to Federal News Radio’s Matt Wingfield for helping me crunch the numbers.

Nearly Useless Factoid:

By Michael O’Connell

The origins of the word “bureaucrat” can be traced back to the French Revolution. Journalist Fouilloux used the term while writing for the Père Duchesne in 1791. According to him, the most deserving object of disgust  was the “new mode of servitude” or the “bureaucrat”.

Source: Wikipedia

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