Is The New York Times’ newsroom just a bunch of Ivy Leaguers? (Kinda, sorta.)

[Anonymous]

Take a look at bios from many of the leading columnists at the NY Times. Many of them either came from Ivies (and family money) or had parents who were well known journalists. Kind of like actors, it always helps if a family member was a successful actor - both in terms of name recognition and the wealth to support trying to make it in that field. It always helps if you know where your next meal is coming from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only independently wealthy people can afford to be journalists.

Bingo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Middle class kids with lots of loans don't become journalists nearly as often as their 1%er peers.

And that impacts the breadth and quality of the journalism, and the ability of papers to serve the public interest. Journalists who grow up in the 1%/Ivy League bubble don't have an understanding of what goes on outside it - which is why there are so many news stories expressing confusion about how bad consumer sentiment is when the stock market and employment rates are so high. When you have never had to worry about your grocery bill or housing costs or credit card interest rates, and you have never really talked to anyone without a college degree (unless that person does manual labor for you), you are just not going to understand.

Yes. Journalism has a huge class problem, inside and out.

Agree. Journalists have no class.

[Anonymous]

There are certain very high prestige jobs essentially open only to Ivy and other very elite undergraduate institutions. One is the very high levels of journalism (including the NYT). Another are highly coveted Wall Street positions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are certain very high prestige jobs essentially open only to Ivy and other very elite undergraduate institutions. One is the very high levels of journalism (including the NYT). Another are highly coveted Wall Street positions.

Compared to NY Times, banking takes kids from less elitist schools 😭

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are certain very high prestige jobs essentially open only to Ivy and other very elite undergraduate institutions. One is the very high levels of journalism (including the NYT). Another are highly coveted Wall Street positions.

Compared to NY Times, banking takes kids from less elitist schools 😭

There are many more elite bankers than there are elite journalists. And investment banking if that’s what you’re referring to, pays well but the work is typically boring with brutal hours

[Anonymous]

Lots of antagonism for NY Times here.! :A

[Anonymous]

"The average estimated annual salary, including base and bonus, at The New York Times is $112,900, or $54 per hour, while the estimated median salary is $101,684"

Sounds reasonable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are certain very high prestige jobs essentially open only to Ivy and other very elite undergraduate institutions. One is the very high levels of journalism (including the NYT). Another are highly coveted Wall Street positions.

Also a lot of Hollywood writer positions (ex: the late night comedy shows) go to Ivy grads. Any fun interesting job that doesn't pay well but has lots of extracurricular perks, you'll find them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting essay outlining where NY Times staff attended for undergrad

https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/is-the-new-york-times-newsroom-just-a-bunch-of-ivy-leaguers-kinda-sorta/

Who is surprised?

[Anonymous]

Went to college with author of this piece. At an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Went to college with author of this piece. At an Ivy.

Yale?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"The average estimated annual salary, including base and bonus, at The New York Times is $112,900, or $54 per hour, while the estimated median salary is $101,684"

Sounds reasonable?

This includes many non-journalist salaries. The clue is journalists don’t have a “base/bonus” structure for pay. So this includes sales, HR, accounting, circulation, management etc. If you only did journalists, it would be much lower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting essay outlining where NY Times staff attended for undergrad

https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/is-the-new-york-times-newsroom-just-a-bunch-of-ivy-leaguers-kinda-sorta/

Who is surprised?

No one who pays attention is surprised of course. Ivies and Stanford/Duke/Mit/chicago matter in certain fields.
Always have, always will.
Quant careers. MBB+ consulting. top journalism. Supreme
Court. T14 law. T20 med. R1 phD feeders. The path is easier from these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"The average estimated annual salary, including base and bonus, at The New York Times is $112,900, or $54 per hour, while the estimated median salary is $101,684"

Sounds reasonable?

That’s a pretty low salary for NYC.