Monday, November 9, 2009
Media $315,000
Posted by Dan Savage on Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 8:19 AM
That's the annual salary of the lead editor at the the Texas Tribune, a new "12-person Web-based newsroom" that has adopted the "nonprofit" model—relying on donations and sponsorships—to cover its considerable expenses.
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4
MR EDITOR WOOO WOOO WEEE. YOU JUST LIKE THE COPS. SADNESS, WE BUMMED, PARADE TIME. PARTY TIME? MOURNFOUL STYLE MAYBE. SALARIED EH? GRATS AND NOSHES.
WISH U WER HER.
WISH U WER HER.
6
HISSY FITSZ AND GIGGLES IS THE NEW TEATRO ZINZANNI SHOW RITE? Q AND A TIME PARTY HOE:
NOODLING AROUND? YES, VERY MUCH SO.
HATING? UHHH, WHAT I LOOK LIKE?
SEMIOTIX!!? NOPE, NOT MY CONCERN.
LIL MAD FRED SAVAGE. ROCK A SCHLOCK.
NOODLING AROUND? YES, VERY MUCH SO.
HATING? UHHH, WHAT I LOOK LIKE?
SEMIOTIX!!? NOPE, NOT MY CONCERN.
LIL MAD FRED SAVAGE. ROCK A SCHLOCK.
7
They have 14 writers, and 10 of them are called "Reporter." Which maybe explains why when you look around the site you find all sorts of news reports and not much bloviating and pontificating. They also don't seem to be paying some clown to draw editorial cartoons.
So maybe 315k is a lot but at least they realize the world is not running short on opinions and you don't need to pay anybody to spin the news on the web.
So maybe 315k is a lot but at least they realize the world is not running short on opinions and you don't need to pay anybody to spin the news on the web.
8
I've got high hopes for the Tribune. Smith did great work at Texas Monthly- let's see if he can carve out a new model online.
Good to see you're paying attention, Dan.
Good to see you're paying attention, Dan.
9
I've got high hopes for the Tribune. Smith did great work at Texas Monthly- let's see if he can carve out a new model online.
Good to see you're paying attention, Dan.
Good to see you're paying attention, Dan.
11
@5,
Maybe so (I have no idea what Dan makes), but Dan isn't asking for donations and grants from me, and the Stranger is not being run on a nonprofit model.
Maybe so (I have no idea what Dan makes), but Dan isn't asking for donations and grants from me, and the Stranger is not being run on a nonprofit model.
12
Also @ 5, we all know that Dan is a published best-selling author and lecturer. I'm sure he pockets more than $315k annually, but I bet the Stranger's share of that is a lot less.
15
@2,
Fuck no. Editor salaries cap out at about $80,000. If they're really, really amazing, maybe they'll make more. (I bet the acquisitions editor who discovered J.K. Rowling is doing quite well.) But those editors are the exception, not the norm.
Fuck no. Editor salaries cap out at about $80,000. If they're really, really amazing, maybe they'll make more. (I bet the acquisitions editor who discovered J.K. Rowling is doing quite well.) But those editors are the exception, not the norm.
16
You're in the wrong business, Dan!
Up front advertising is so last century -- the real money is in behind-the-scenes sponsorships and story buying... er, I mean "funding": http://www.texastribune.org/donate/found…
Up front advertising is so last century -- the real money is in behind-the-scenes sponsorships and story buying... er, I mean "funding": http://www.texastribune.org/donate/found…
17
What is it about how much people make that gets other folks panties in a bunch? I did not do the research, but so what if the average Editor makes around $80,000/yr and this guys makes $315,000! Why should any Sloggers care? If he was not doing something right, then he would not be making any money. Why is it that people cannot be happy for someone who is successful? Does it really make you feel bad personally that he makes so much more than you do? Damn - stop reading the SLOG at work and do something to make more money!
18
I realize most people here don't know the background of Smith and this site. Smith left his job as editor of Texas Monthly (where he did some really excellent work - it's not the usual fluffy "we live here" magazine at all, but regularly publishes great articles) to start Texas Tribune to cover state issues (mainly politics). Given that TM is a glossy magazine with abig ad revenue, I'm guessing he made a lot more than $80K there.
Given that Texas does not have great coverage of its state government from major dailies - the Austin American-Statesman is OK, Dallas Morning new is OK with a conservative slant, the Houston Chronicle is basically a comic book - this fills a huge need. And at the same time they are trying to find an alternative model for journalism that is actually economically feasible.
They've hired some great talent (Matt Stiles was one of the few bright spots at the Houston Chronicle).
They're a week old; we'll see how they do. So far the site looks really good, and is featuring lots of blow by blow of what the state government is doing, including the shenanigans with the new head of the Forensic Commission (a big local story relating to death penalty cases), border politics, and much more.
This is good stuff and if they succeed at what they are trying to do it will be a really good thing, and something that is hopefully emulated elsewhere. I would think that Stranger readers would be interested in seeing what this kind of experiment yields, not busy whining about the editor's salary. It's an ambitious project and one that could really improve the accessibility of reporting on state government here in Texas.
Plus their web site actually looks like a newspaper, not The View on acid like most daily papers' sites.
I'm not sure why their funding model is any more objectionable that, say, NPR or public television.
More...
Given that Texas does not have great coverage of its state government from major dailies - the Austin American-Statesman is OK, Dallas Morning new is OK with a conservative slant, the Houston Chronicle is basically a comic book - this fills a huge need. And at the same time they are trying to find an alternative model for journalism that is actually economically feasible.
They've hired some great talent (Matt Stiles was one of the few bright spots at the Houston Chronicle).
They're a week old; we'll see how they do. So far the site looks really good, and is featuring lots of blow by blow of what the state government is doing, including the shenanigans with the new head of the Forensic Commission (a big local story relating to death penalty cases), border politics, and much more.
This is good stuff and if they succeed at what they are trying to do it will be a really good thing, and something that is hopefully emulated elsewhere. I would think that Stranger readers would be interested in seeing what this kind of experiment yields, not busy whining about the editor's salary. It's an ambitious project and one that could really improve the accessibility of reporting on state government here in Texas.
Plus their web site actually looks like a newspaper, not The View on acid like most daily papers' sites.
I'm not sure why their funding model is any more objectionable that, say, NPR or public television.
19
People wrongly believe that "non-profit" means nobody makes good money working there. There are plenty of people (full disclosure: myself included, and I'm nowhere near the top of the non-profit I work for) who make very good livings. Non-profit means just that - the company doesn't record a profit (AFTER paying salaries and all other expenses). There's no limit on how much someone working for a non-profit can make, other than the revenues that the company brings in, regardless of the revenue source.
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