Story at a glance
- A new Newsguild pay study released Tuesday found the median annual salary for journalists of color at a dozen Gannett papers is $11,500 less than their white co-workers.
- The study looked at August 2022 salary data from employees at a dozen Gannett papers in New York and New Jersey.
- The study also found that experienced female journalists on average earn $9,500 a year less than their male co-workers.
The median annual salary for a journalist of color at a half dozen Northeastern Gannett newspapers is about $11,500 less than their white co-workers, according to a Newsguild pay study published Tuesday.
The study was conducted by the Gannett Regional Union — a coalition of six NewsGuild bargaining units representing more than 200 reporters, photographers, producers and other staff at a dozen local newspapers — and was based on data collected during August of this year.
The six units examined all represented journalists working across New York and New Jersey and included four units that were certified last year — the Record Guild, the Atlantic DOT Guild, the Hudson Valley News Guild and the APP-MCJ Guild 1 — along with two legacy union shops; the Rochester Newspaper Guild and the Utica Newspaper Guild.
Out of those units, white men make up 53 percent of the workforce, the study noted, and white employees make up the vast majority of veteran journalists, with non-white veteran journalists of color outnumbered almost 9 to 1.
Not only do journalists of color on average have lower salaries than their white co-workers at Gannett, but their salaries are also more likely to stagnate, Newsguild found.
Median annual salaries for minority journalists at Gannett stagnate in the low $40,000s through their 40s, while white co-workers continue see pay increases, the report found.
“Gannett claims it is a beacon for diversity in the workplace. Our numbers prove otherwise. The inequity is baked into how editors look at their workforce,” the study reads. “At a bargaining session this summer, when the Guild set its demand – equal pay for equal work – a Gannett editor rolled her eyes and laughed out loud. That is the Gannett management culture.”
NewsGuild also found that the median salary for white male journalists represented by the six units was about $12,2000 more than that of minority women journalists, according to the report.
Salary inequities exist along gender lines, as well. Experienced female journalists represented by the six units make median, full-time salaries that are more than $9,500 less than men of the same age.
Female workers start to experience gender pay gaps as early as year six at Gannett, the analysis found, and women entering their mid-career years at the media empire earn median, full-time salaries that are about $8,300 less than their male co-workers with comparable years in the industry.
“Gannett is committed to ensuring equitable employment practices for all employees,” said Lark-Marie Anton, senior vice president and head of corporate communications at Gannett, in an email to Changing America.
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