Average Salary For Journalists In South Africa

A journalist is an individual trained to collect/gather information in form of text, audio, or pictures, process them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism.

Below are salaries earned by Journalist In South Africa

A person working as a Journalist in South Africa typically earns around 38,300 ZAR per month. Salaries range from 18,800 ZAR (lowest) to 59,800 ZAR (highest).

This is the average monthly salary including housing, transport, and other benefits. Journalist salaries vary drastically based on experience, skills, gender, or location. Below you will find a detailed breakdown based on many different criteria.

Journalist Salary Distribution in South Africa

The median, the maximum, the minimum, and the range

Salary Range

Journalist salaries in South Africa range from 18,800 ZAR per month (minimum salary) to 59,800 ZAR per month (maximum salary).

Median Salary

The median salary is 39,100 ZAR per month, which means that half (50%) of people working as journalists (s) are earning less than 39,100 ZAR while the other half are earning more than 39,100 ZAR. The median represents the middle salary value. Generally speaking, you would want to be on the right side of the graph with the group earning more than the median salary.

Percentiles

Closely related to the median are two values: the 25th and the 75th percentiles. Reading from the salary distribution diagram, 25% of journalists (s) are earning less than 26,000 ZAR while 75% of them are earning more than 26,000 ZAR. Also from the diagram, 75% of journalists (s) are earning less than 50,400 ZAR while 25% are earning more than 50,400 ZAR.

Journalist Salary Comparison by Years of Experience

How do experience and age affect your pay?

The experience level is the most important factor in determining the salary. Naturally the more years of experience the higher your wage. We broke down Journalist salaries by experience level and this is what we found.

A Journalist with less than two years of experience makes approximately 22,300 ZAR per month.

While someone with an experience level of between two and five years is expected to earn 28,600 ZAR per month, 29% more than someone with less than two years of experience.

Moving forward, an experience level between five and ten years lands a salary of 39,500 ZAR per month, 38% more than someone with two to five years of experience.

Additionally, Journalist(s) whose expertise span anywhere between ten and fifteen years get a salary equivalent to 48,900 ZAR per month, 24% more than someone with five to ten years of experience.

If the experience level is between fifteen and twenty years, then the expected wage is 52,400 ZAR per month, 7% more than someone with ten to fifteen years of experience.

Lastly, employees with more than twenty years of professional experience get a salary of 55,900 ZAR per month, 7% more than people with fifteen to twenty years of experience.

Journalists’ average salary changes by experience in South Africa

0 – 2 Years22,300 ZAR
2 – 5 Years+29%28,600 ZAR
5 – 10 Years+38%39,500 ZAR
10 – 15 Years+24%48,900 ZAR
15 – 20 Years+7%52,400 ZAR
20+ Years+7%55,900 ZAR

Journalist Salary Comparison By Education

We all know that higher education equals a bigger salary, but how much more money can a degree add to your income? We broke down Journalist salaries by education level in order to make a comparison.

When the education level is High School, the average salary of a Journalist is 27,800 ZAR per month.

While someone with a Certificate or Diploma gets a salary of 31,900 ZAR per month, 15% more than someone having a High School degree.

A Bachelor’s Degree gets its holder an average salary of 43,000 ZAR per month, 35% more than someone with a Certificate or Diploma.

Professionals who hold a Master’s Degree are rewarded with an average salary of 54,100 ZAR per month, 26% more than someone with a Bachelor’s Degree.

Journalists’ average salary difference by education level in South Africa

High School27,800 ZAR
Certificate or Diploma+15%31,900 ZAR
Bachelor’s Degree+35%43,000 ZAR
Master’s Degree+26%54,100 ZAR

Journalist Salary Comparison By Gender

Though gender should not have an effect on pay, in reality, it does. So who gets paid more: men or women? Male Journalist employees in South Africa earn 8% more than their female counterparts on average.

Male39,600 ZAR
Female-7%36,700 ZAR

Journalist Average Annual Salary Increment Percentage in South Africa

How much are annual salary increments in South Africa for Journalist(s)?

How often do employees get salary raises?

Journalist

Journalists (s) in South Africa are likely to observe a salary increase of approximately 12% every 18 months. The national average annual increment for all professions combined is 8% granted to employees every 18 months.

Journalist Bonus and Incentive Rates in South Africa

How much and how often are bonuses being awarded?

A Journalist is considered to be a moderate bonus-based job due to the generally limited involvement in direct revenue generation, with exceptions of course. The people who get the highest bonuses are usually somehow involved in the revenue generation cycle.

44% of surveyed staff reported that they haven’t received any bonuses or incentives in the previous year while 56% said that they received at least one form of monetary bonus.

Those who got bonuses reported rates ranging from 3% to 6% of their annual salary

Received Bonus
56%

No Bonus
44%

Journalist Average Hourly Wage in South Africa

The average hourly wage (pay per hour) in South Africa is 220 ZAR. This means that the average Journalist in South Africa earns approximately 220 ZAR for every worked hour.

How much do news reporters earn in South Africa?

R498,345 (ZAR)/yr.

How much do TV presenters get paid in South Africa?

SABC Jobs by Salary

JOB TITLERANGEAVERAGE
JournalistRange: R75k – R370k (Estimated *)Average: R178,075
Radio ProducerRange: R62k – R321k (Estimated *)Average: R153,303
EditorRange: R128k – R875k (Estimated *)Average: R406,692
Television PresenterRange: R36k – R511k (Estimated *)Average: R200,954

What is the highest paying job in journalism in South Africa?

Top Journalism Degree Jobs

Public Relations Managers.

Technical Writers.

Writers and Authors.

Editors

Radio and Television Journalists.

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers.

How much do MTV Base presenters earn in South Africa?

“New presenters earn around R1 800 to R2 000 per episode and those who’ve been in the game for longer can earn R10 000 or more per episode,” explains our source.