Median salaries for U.S. business journalists varied by place of employment from $50,100 for print to $78,438 for wire services in 2010-11. Photo by Flickr user Roger H. Goun.

U.S. business journalists reported a median salary of $56,220 for 2010-11, according to research for the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism.

Other findings: 14 percent of those business journalists surveyed in mid-July said their newsroom was currently hiring full-time journalists, and one in five said their newsroom had shrunk in the past six months.

The research also found this breakdown for median salaries by place of employment in 2010-11:

• Print: $50,100
• Freelancing: $54,091
• Broadcast: $55,588
• Online: $57,308
• Wire services: $78,438.

For editors and supervisors overall, the median was $57,308, and for reporters, it was $55,714.

Those figures come from phone surveys of 773 randomly selected business journalists, about 60 percent of whom were interviewed in 2010, with the rest questioned in 2011. The median means half make more and half make less.

The research was commissioned by the Reynolds Center and conducted by Behavior Research Center Inc., a market-research firm in Phoenix. | Please see the last page of Business Journalists Study 2011 (PDF) for salary data.

The 2010-11 median is lower than the $65,000 to $70,000 that was volunteered by 394 business journalists in an informal online survey by the Society of Business Editors and Writers last year. It finished collecting data for its 2011 survey Aug. 12.

In the Reynolds research, fewer business journalists reported a drop in pay than when the same question was asked in 2010. Last year, about one in three reported a decline in pay over the past two years, compared with fewer than one in five this year.

They also expressed a bit of optimism about future staffing in their own newsrooms:

• About one in five said the number of journalists in their newsroom had declined in the past six months, but only half that number expected further declines in the next six months.
• About one in 10 said the number of business journalists in their newsroom had dropped in the past six months, but, again, only about half that number thought business journalists would decline in their newsroom in the next six months.

At The Philadelphia Inquirer, for example, PhillyDeals columnist Joseph DiStefano said the paper is hiring junior reporters and Web producers. “Our paper has folded the daily business section into the back of the A section, but we continue to field a team of business-beat reporters about as large as it was in the mid-’90s.”

“Analysis of Business Journalists Survey on Newsroom Hiring, Pay 2011” from Reynolds Center on Vimeo.

In other survey findings, when business journalists were asked in 2011 where they got their news about the media industry, they named, in order:

1. The New York Times
2. Poynter.org’s Romenesko
3. The Wall Street Journal
4. MediaBistro
5. Twitter.

Since last year, the proportion of business journalists getting their industry news from Twitter and Facebook more than doubled.

In both years, when asked about training, business journalists most often cited a need for training in multimedia skills, social media and computer-assisted reporting.

ABOUT THE SURVEY
Business Journalists Study 2011 (PDF) was conducted by the Behavior Research Center Inc. in Phoenix.  The phone survey conducted July 18-21 has a margin of error of +/- 5 percent. The 300 journalists surveyed from July 18-21, 2011, included 87 from print, 87 from wire services, 57 from broadcast, 42 freelancers and 27 from online. DiStefano was not among them. The 2010 survey, conducted from April 19-May 6, included 473 business journalists, with the same proportions from the different places of employment. The two years of data were used to calculate median salaries because the larger sample size affords a higher level of confidence in each median. The center plans to continue to track the rolling, two-year median salaries going forward.

ABOUT THE REYNOLDS CENTER

The Reynolds Center is based at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix. More than 12,000 journalists have benefited from the Reynolds Center’s free training since 2003. The center’s mission is to help journalists cover business better.

For more information about this report, email Linda Austin, Reynolds Center executive director, or call 602-496-9187.

In a telephone survey of 300 business journalists conducted nationwide in mid-July, many described their local economies as suffering:

• One in three said business conditions were bad.
• Four out of 10 said jobs were hard to get.

But they expressed optimism that their local economies would improve, with only 6 percent saying they expected things to worsen in six months.

When asked about their local housing market, about one in four said the residential real estate market was better now than six months ago. Only about one in 10 thought it would be worse in six months.

Conditions were toughest in the West, where half the business journalists said their local economies were bad and jobs were hard to get.

“Analysis of Business Journalists Survey on their Local Economies 2011” from Reynolds Center on Vimeo.

In Seattle, economics columnist Jon Talton of The Seattle Times said business conditions are mixed. “Apartment construction is rebounding: I can see four cranes out my window for high-rises now,” he said, but “many small businesses continue to struggle with weak consumer spending and tight credit.”

Pamela Yip, personal finance writer for The Dallas Morning News, agreed on the mixed economic picture. “Dallas-Fort Worth added more jobs than any other U.S. metro area during the six months ending in June,” she said. “But…unemployment is 3.6 percentage points higher than it was three years ago.”

ABOUT THE SURVEY
Business Journalists Study 2011 (PDF) was conducted by the Behavior Research Center Inc., using questions similar to those in The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey®. The phone survey conducted July 18-21 has a margin of error of +/- 5 percent. Talton, Yip, DiStefano, Maynard and Tobin were not among the 300 randomly selected business journalists surveyed, who came from print, online, broadcast, wire services and freelancing.

ABOUT THE REYNOLDS CENTER

The Reynolds Center is based at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix. More than 12,000 journalists have benefited from the Reynolds Center’s free training since 2003. Its mission is to help journalists cover business better.

For more information, email Linda Austin, Reynolds Center executive director, or call 602-496-9187.

The Business Journalists Study 2010 is a groundbreaking survey of 473 business reporters and editors nationwide.

“We talked with hundreds of print, online, wire, broadcast and freelance business journalists, and they expressed optimism about the future of journalism,” said Andrew Leckey, Reynolds Center president and Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism at the Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

“I found a shocking amount of optimism, grit and determination in those findings,” said professor Tim McGuire, who retired in 2002 as editor of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. McGuire is the Frank Russell Chair for the Business of Journalism at ASU’s Cronkite School.

“I am convinced the Reynolds study is a seminal piece of work that should make the obituary writers for journalism pause and seriously reflect,” McGuire said.

Specifically, McGuire was surprised that almost a third reported an increase in pay over the past two years and that seven out of 10 business journalists say they are more or just as satisfied with their jobs as they were five years ago. Almost three-fourths plan to stay in journalism for the next five years.

McGuire goes into detail in a post on his blog, McGuire on Media, explaining why this survey is significant to journalism.

“What’s striking in the results is how much more negatively print journalists have been impacted compared with those from other media,” said Linda Austin, executive director of the Reynolds Center. Of the respondents, 139 came from wire services, 135 from print, 88 from broadcast, 67 from freelancing and 44 from online. At almost every experience level, print journalists made less money.

Overall, almost half say they have fewer opportunities for training. “I would urge them to check out the free regional workshops and online training offered by the Reynolds Center at BusinessJournalism.org,” Austin said.

THE FULL STUDY: Business Journalists Study 2010 (PDF)
Respondents averaged 20 years in journalism and 12.8 years as business journalists. They report many changes in their jobs in the past five years:

• Six out of 10 are doing more or about the same level of investigative journalism.
• Nine out of 10 have learned new skills.
• Three-fourths say their workload has increased and they use social media.
• About half blog, file first for the Web and cover more beats.

ABOUT THE SURVEY
Business Journalists Study 2010 was conducted by the Behavior Research Center Inc. in Phoenix.  The phone survey between April 19 and May 6 has a margin of error of +/-4.6 percent.

ABOUT THE REYNOLDS CENTER

The Reynolds Center is based at ASU. It is funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, which is a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, it is one of the largest private foundations in the United States.

More than 10,000 journalists have benefited from the Reynolds Center’s free training since 2003. The center’s mission is to help journalists cover business better.

For more information about this report, e-mail Linda Austin, Reynolds Center executive director, or call 602-496-9187.

More than half of the 400 interviewees aged 18 to 25 said they relied a lot on the Internet for business news, followed by television and the advice of family and friends. They also rated the Internet and television as more accurate than newspapers, radio and magazines.

The study was commissioned by the Reynolds Center with interviews conducted by the Behavior Research Center Inc.

Almost half of the young adults surveyed said they had made decisions in the last year based on economic news. Those included buying less, saving more and putting off going to college.

“Our study found that young adults clearly care about their long-term financial future and follow the economic news in its many forms,” said Andrew Leckey, president of the Reynolds Center.

More than half said that the current economy has changed how they foresee their future lifestyle and career, “an extremely pessimistic finding,” according to James E. Haynes, who directed the research.

Other findings included:

• CNN was cited as the most trustworthy specific news source by 20 percent, while 9 percent chose Fox News.
• One in five had discussed the economy on social networking sites. More than half used Facebook, followed by MySpace at 40 percent. Seven percent said they frequently used the micro-blogging site, Twitter.
• Almost one-fourth used online financial tools, with bank Web sites being the most commonly used.

A February study by the Reynolds Center of where all adults accessed business news found that more used television than newspapers, the Internet and radio combined.

For the complete report, including the opinions of respondents comparing the news networks, click here.

Those are the results of a nationwide research report based on 450 in-depth interviews with heads of households commissioned by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism and conducted by the Behavior Research Center.

Forty-eight percent of respondents said they rely primarily on television for their economic news, while 21 percent cited newspapers, 16 percent the Internet, 8 percent radio and 7 percent “other.” Of those who specified television, 56 percent said the coverage was good, 6 percent said excellent, 30 percent only fair, 5 percent poor and 3 percent “not sure.”

Six in 10 respondents said they have made financial decisions based on economic news received from media sources.

Other findings from the research:

• News of the financial crisis and federal bailout topped the list of most memorable financial stories of 2008 by a wide margin, followed by the housing market collapse and subprime mortgage scandal.
• Cited as the most important business coverage was the effect of oil prices, followed by the value of the dollar and reports about companies and jobs.

“The drastic nature of recent economic and financial news has Americans constantly looking for immediate information about where things may be headed,” said Andrew Leckey, President of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. “Our research indicates they make family financial decisions based on that information, which underscores the need for accurate, quality reporting on the economy.”

The research, released today and completed at the close of 2008, is based on 450 interviews with heads of household throughout the United States who participate in financial decisions and whose household income totals $50,000 or more.

For the complete report, including the opinions of respondents comparing the news networks, click here.

However, 83 percent of respondents said reporters must improve their understanding of business.

These findings are a part of new research on coverage of minority-owned and privately-held businesses from The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism.

The research, which was released July 25 at the 2008 UNITY Convention in Chicago, is comprised of two studies, one based on 400 interviews with private and minority business owners and managers throughout the United States. The second takes a look at the journalist perspective through the survey of 125 U.S.-based business journalists.

“Private and minority-owned businesses play important roles in the community, but too often have been overlooked in coverage that focuses on big business,” said Andrew Leckey, Director of the Reynolds Center. “We found that both the business owners and the journalists want to see this change.”

Despite the high percentage of business owners who said they were satisfied with coverage, 68 percent of respondents say business reporters too often ask slanted or misleading questions.

Still, 55 percent disagree that the media is in general biased in its coverage of minority and women business owners.

Most business journalists say they only occasionally cover minority-owned businesses, but not for a lack of reader interest. In fact, eighty-four percent of journalists disagree with the notion that today’s reader has little or no interest in minority-owned businesses.

Journalists were also asked about barriers to coverage and distrust of media by business owners.

For the complete reports:

Survey of minority and independent business owners

Survey of business journalists

This research by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism studied a variety of stock market table characteristics, including the number of pages devoted to tables in daily newspapers. The research found that about one-third of small-circulation daily newspapers print no stock market tables, not even a summary of the day’s market activity. In contrast, large newspapers (daily circulation of 100,000 or more) are more generous than the smaller ones in their printing of stock tables. Still, less than one-third of the large papers print less than a full page of stock tables and only one in five devote as much as two pages to stock tables.

The two-part study consisted of a content analysis of 122 newspaper business sections and an online survey of large newspaper business editors. Research was conducted by Stephen Doig, the Knight Chair at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism, working in conjunction with the Reynolds Center staff.

Other content findings:

• Thirty-four percent of all business sections analyzed did not offer any stock market tables. Nearly all were small-circulation papers. In contrast, all but one all of large newspapers analyzed offered stock tables of some sort.
• The average amount of space devoted by all papers to financial stock tables today is a bit more than one-third of a page. Among the big papers, the average is a page and a half.
• Of those that do offer stock listings, the most common table is “local interest stocks.”
• The potential news hole created by cutting back or eliminating stock listings has not meant increased space for other business news. About three-quarters of U.S. newspapers today offer just one page – or less – of business news. Even among the big papers, two-thirds offer business sections of six or fewer pages, which often include at least one full-page ad.
• Only about one out of every eight daily papers in the country puts business news in its own section with a section front. By contrast, almost all of the big papers run separate business sections.

The survey of editors found that:

• About three-fourths of the editors reported that their newspapers had “cut back considerably” in recent years on the depth and breadth of the stock market tables they published.
• However, most also said that the savings in space wasn’t used to enhance business coverage. Four out of every five respondents said that either there was no increase in editorial space or cuts were made to space and/or staff.

To see full research report click here.

To view the full report click here.

These popular online Web journals written by reporters get breaking news to readers more quickly, according to 60 percent of the business bloggers who responded to the study. However, more than half of respondents also said this also takes away from their regular reporting time.

“Newspapers, reporters and businesses are grappling with the pros and cons of blogging,” said Andrew Leckey, Director of the Reynolds Center, which funded the study. “Our practical research was designed to see how widespread blogging on business topics actually is, what’s propelling it and how it affects the overall news process.”

The two-part study consisted of a content analysis of 100 randomly selected newspapers and a survey that received 44 responses from active business bloggers. Their blogs represent topics ranging from individual industries to investments and corporate governance.

Research was conducted by Stephen Doig, the Knight Chair at the Arizona State University Cronkite School of Journalism, working in conjunction with the Reynolds Center staff.

Other content findings:

• Business blogs haven’t caught on at smaller papers. While 38 of the largest 50 newspapers have a business-related blog and 24 of them have two or more, fewer than one in 10 papers overall has one.
• Some business bloggers post frequently, particularly at larger papers, but the median number of postings overall is just three per week.
• The median number of reader comments to business blogs over a two-week period was nine, but many received no responses.

The survey of bloggers found that:

• Half of the responding business bloggers said they receive one to five reader comments for each posting, while one-third receive no responses.
• Half the respondents said it was their own idea to start the blog.
• Only two respondents said they get paid extra for their postings.

“Newspapers clearly need to be experimenting with blogs as another way of reaching readers beyond the printed page,” said Doig. “But it’s less clear at this point that blogs give an immediate payoff in increased readership for most news sites.”

To see the full study consisting of content analysis, survey and how results were found, click here.

CONTENT ANALYSIS

SAMPLE SIZE:

Researchers analyzed a random sample from the nation’s 1,400 daily newspapers in search of blogging activity on business issues. One hundred publications were randomly chosen to be examined as part of the sample. Of those, 98 had web sites. Researchers also analyzed the web sites of the nation’s 50 largest newspapers as determined by circulation size. Five web-only business sites were also analyzed. Collectively, they identified 127 business blogs at these media outlets.

METHODOLOGY:

The larger content analysis sample was generated using newspapers identified by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Researchers visited each of the randomly chosen newspaper web sites in mid-February 2007 and searched for the word “blog” on the site’s home page and on the business section front to determine if the newspaper offered blogs. Blogs were monitored over an eight-week period to determine frequency of postings. Researchers examined reader comments over a two-week period.

KEY FINDINGS:

• In the random sample, only five of the newspapers analyzed had business-related blogs Based on these findings, we can assume no more than about 130 – or less than 10 percent — of newspaper websites currently offer business-related blogs out of the 1,400 daily newspapers nationwide.
• A review of the nation’s top 50 newspapers revealed more than three-quarters offered business-related blogs. Thirty-eight newspapers had at least one business-related blog.
• Nearly half of large papers offered two or more business blogs.
• All the large papers offered blogs, even if none were on business-related topics.
• Of the five web-only business sites, only four offered blogs.
• The median number of business blog postings was about three per week.
• Of the 127 business blogs collectively identified, about one-third posted fewer than 8 items during the eight-week study period.
• Some business blogs posted hundreds of items during the study period but that was more likely to happen at larger publications such as the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
• Blog postings tended to be shorter than print stories. The median number of paragraphs in blog postings was five.
• Reader comments to blogs averaged about 9 over a two-week period, though a few of the most popular blogs generated more than 1,000 reader comments over a two-week period.
• More than three quarters of the 127 individual blogs analyzed were written by fulltime staff of the respective publication. The remainder were written by syndicated business journalists. A handful were written by unpaid volunteers.
• No discernible pattern could be found on the most popular business blogging topics. Topics varied broadly, from technology to real estate to local companies to housing and airlines.

SURVEY

OVERALL RESPONSE:

Surveys were emailed to 103 persons identified as business bloggers in the content analysis. A total of 44 responses from business bloggers were received. The 43 percent response rate is less than needed to generalize the findings. However, clears patterns emerged from the responses.

METHODOLOGY:

The online survey consisted of 30 questions about their blogging practices and experiences. The survey was emailed to bloggers via Zoomerang (www.zoomerang.com), an online polling service and invited bloggers were given several opportunities to respond.

KEY FINDINGS:

• Three-fourths of respondents started blogging since the beginning of 2006
• Five out of six business bloggers are full-time business reporters or columnists
• Most business bloggers do not receive additional compensation for their blogs; only two respondents receive additional pay
• Half of respondents proposed their blog; the other half were assigned by editors
• Most are given no firm guidelines about how their blogs should be conducted
• A third are given general targets for number of postings; the rest post when they feel like it
• Blog topics cover all business subjects (Small business, real estate, stock market, personal finance, taxation, economy, etc.)
• Some are narrowly focused blogs, like coverage of business travel or a major local employer
• Most common blog topic is technology, either consumer or business side.
• Most business bloggers focus on local topics
• A handful expand scope to cover national business issues
• None of the respondents consider international business their main focus
• More than half say they never blog about international business issues
• Relatively few business bloggers do live postings from the scene of an event
• Those who do live postings most often use laptop computers, though some use PDAs like the Blackberry
• A majority of business bloggers agree with these positives about blogging:

-”The blog is a good place for small items that normally wouldn’t make the paper.”

-”I can interact more closely with readers.”

-”I can get breaking news to readers more quickly.”

-”I can explore topics I normally wouldn’t cover.”

• Many business bloggers agree with these negatives about blogging:

-”Doing the blog takes away my time for reporting.”

-”Far fewer readers see my blog postings than read my printed stories.”

• Business bloggers are concerned about how much their work is read. Asked how many readers post comments:

-A third of bloggers said “None”

-About half said “1-5 comments”

-Only 16 percent receive more than 6.

CONCLUSIONS:

1. Large papers have been the early adopters of business blogging, although a small scattering of small- and mid-size newspapers are experimenting with business blogs.

• Only five newspapers in the sample of 100 newspapers had business blogs and two of those newspapers had reader circulations of less than 25,000.
• While almost one-third of all U.S. daily newspapers offer blogs of some sort, fewer than 10 percent provide blogs on business-related topics.

2. The frequency of blog postings vary greatly, with the more prolific postings found at the larger newspapers.

• During an eight-week period, the median number of postings was 22, a rate of about three per week.
• Fifteen of the business blogs studied posted more than 100 updates during the period. At the other extreme, 38 blogs posted less than 8 updates during the study period.

3. Reader comments to business blogs remain low, although the most popular blog sites can receive tremendous reader traffic.

• Politics and sports remain more popular topics for getting reader response, although some tightly focused business blogs are gaining a strong following.
• The biggest unanswered question about business blogs is whether they are worth the effort being put into them when it comes to readership. Clearly at some of the larger publications, they are well received. But it is a very uneven response, especially at small- and mid-size publications.

RESEARCHERS

Research was carried out by Professor Stephen K. Doig, Knight Chair in Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. He was assisted by graduate assistant Sonu Munshi

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