Who Makes How Much: Media Professionals

story by the Washingtonian
written by Kimberly Palmer

As traditional media cope with the digital revolution and watch ad revenues decline and audiences splinter, some fortunes wax but many wane. A local TV insider says few local TV personalities now make more than $400,000. He estimates that meteorologist Bob Ryan, who recently left Channel 4 for Channel 7 over staff pay cuts, makes about $600,000 at WJLA.

Our source also estimates that Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon get $1.5 million each for ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption.

Here are others:

Wolf Blitzer,reporter/host, CNN, $3 million.
Jim Vance, news anchor, NBC4, $1.3 million.
Don Graham, CEO, Washington Post Company, $412,740.
Katharine Weymouth, CEO, Washington Post Media, $472, 997.
Bob Woodward, associate editor, Washington Post, $100 a month.
Patricia Harrison, president, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, $369,514.
John Fahey, president, National Geographic Society, $1,327,951.
Paula Kerger, president, Public Broadcasting Service, $543,500.
George Stephanopoulos, ABC’s Good Morning America, $8 million.
Robert Siegel, cohost, NPR’s All Things Considered, $319,300.
Scott Simon, host, NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, $300,648.
Reporter, Washington Post, starting $70,000, average $90,000.
Reporter, USA Today, $80,000 to $150,000.


SPEAKING FEES

$5,000 and Up

Chris Cillizza, Washington Post’s The Fix columnist.
Dana Milbank, Washington Post op-ed columnist.

$7,500 and Up

Donna Brazile, political analyst, CNN and ABC News.
Luke Russert, NBC News correspondent at large.

$10,000 and Up

Brett Baier, Fox News host.
Gloria Borger, CNN analyst.
Charlie Cook, political analyst.
Amy Holmes, CNN political contributor.
Katty Kay, BBC News Washington correspondent.
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post op-ed columnist.
Amy Walter, ABC News political director.

$15,000 and Up

Tucker Carlson, editor-in-chief, The Daily Caller.
Anita Dunn, political strategist and TV commentator.
Gwen Ifill, moderator, PBS’s Washington Week.
Bill Kristol, Weekly Standard editor and political commentator.

$20,000 and Up

Laura Ingraham, conservative commentator.

$25,000 and Up

William Bennett, conservative commentator.
Andrea Mitchell, MSNBC correspondent.
Bob Schieffer, moderator, CBS’s Face the Nation.
Bob Woodward, Washington Post associate editor and author.

$40,000 and Up

Newt Gingrich, former House speaker.
David Gregory, moderator, NBC’s Meet the Press.
Ted Koppel, broadcast journalist.
Charles Krauthammer, columnist and commentator.
Jim Lehrer, anchor, PBS NewsHour.
Joe Scarborough, cohost, MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
George Will, columnist and commentator.