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Magazine journalist : Salary and conditions

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  1. Job description
  2. Salary and conditions
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Case studies

  • For magazine journalists entering the profession at graduate level, job titles include staff writer, graduate writer and journalism trainee. Typical starting salaries range from £15,000 - £26,000, but may be as low as £12,000.
  • Many graduates have to work unpaid, sometimes for long periods of time, before securing a paid job.
  • If you have some experience, salaries are often negotiable. Senior staff (senior staff writer, sub-editor or features editor) usually earn between £18,000 and £35,000.
  • If you work on a major publication, or become editor in chief of a magazine, your salary can be anything from £22,000 to £65,000+.
  • Freelance fees vary according to your experience and ability, but the average freelance fee per 1,000 words is £500 for a large magazine or £375 for a smaller consumer magazine. See the National Union of Journalists (NUJ)  for a comprehensive guide to freelance rates.
  • Salary levels depend mainly on the location, size and popularity of the magazine. Salaries in London and the South East are generally higher, and opportunities more plentiful.
  • This is not a nine to five job; copy deadlines may mean irregular hours. Unsocial hours are common.
  • Part-time work and career breaks are possible.
  • With much of magazine journalism now being outsourced, freelancing is more common and up to 80% of magazine copy is written by freelancers. Many people make successful careers as freelance magazine journalists, contributing pieces to a wide variety of publications.
  • Women are well represented on consumer magazines.
  • The work provides the opportunity to meet a wide variety of people beyond your own circle of colleagues, but long hours, tight deadlines, and writing for the public domain can be stressful.
  • Travel within the working day is often needed and you may occasionally need to be away from home overnight.
  • Overseas work and travel is not uncommon, especially if working for a travel or international trade magazine.
 
AGCAS
Written by Zoe Arch, University of the Arts London
Date: 
April 2010
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