Are you earning what you’re really worth in journalism?

Media career specialist, Lekan Otufodunrin writes on how journalists can earn commensurate income with their qualifications and experience.

I can hear a resounding No in response to the above headline from most journalists reading this piece, if not all.
In an undercapitalised business like ours in the country which is experiencing depression, in more ways than other sectors, journalists are not only underpaid, many are not even paid regularly for months.

However, earning what you’re really worth in any endeavour is not only about how much you are paid by the media house you work in, but a function of many factors which each journalist has to address instead of complaining about the “bad luck” of being trapped in the profession.

Giving the very hectic nature of our job, journalists should be better paid than many other professionals, but the truth is that we are not the worst paid professionals.

Individually, we have the capacity to earn much more than we presently earn and unless we wake up to this reality, we should blame ourselves for remaining poor in an industry where some others are earning what they are worth and sometimes more.

LIMITING FACTORS
I agree that there are many limiting factors that I will not bother to enumerate, but reading through the book “Earn What You’re Really Worth by Brian Tracy has challenged me to more than ever before, take my destiny in my hands and review how well I have been doing to maximise my potentials to earn more than I am presently earning. I definitely should earn more than I’m presently earning after almost thirty years of being a journalist.

Like many will do, I initially wanted to dismiss the claim by Tracy that ” You are where you are financially because you have chosen to be there,” but I couldn’t but agree with him that ” You have decided to earn this amount as a result of your actions and inactions.”

I am honest enough to admit that “There are specific actions you have taken to get your income to the point where it is today. And there are actions that you have failed to take that have caused your income to stay far below what you are truly capable of earning.”

I know writing opportunities to earn Dollars, not Naira, that I have allowed to pass me by due to lack of focus and diligence. I know the risks I should have taken and the efforts I failed to put in to pursue some financially rewarding projects. Sometimes I feel as if I am bewitched not to do what should earn me more income, but the problem is with me, not any imaginary witch.

You can prefer to blame your education, boss, company, the industry and the economy as Tracy initially did when he first heard the concept of earning what you’re really worth, but if you look around enough as the author did, you will realise that there are many colleagues who are contending with same problems and limitations who are earning far more than you are and living better lives.

WELL-PAYING COMPANIES
Yes it is true that journalists are not generally well paid, but how about those who work in the few organisations that pay well and regularly? Who says you can’t work in such places? If you want very good pay, you must know where to get it and have what is required to get in and remain there. The decision is up to you based on whatever factors you have to consider.

I know a young reporter who earned less than N50,000 per month in a media organisation and made up his mind to get employed where over N150,000 is paid for a similar position and did.
He could have opted to remain where he was and keep bemoaning his fate like many of us do but desired better pay, worked at it and got it.

Moving from one media house to the other, especially to where job security is not guaranteed may be risky, but remaining where you are not well-paid may also deny you the opportunity of earning what you’re really worth.

EARNING ADDITIONAL INCOME
There will definitely not be enough spaces for all who want to work in well-paying organisations, but you can earn the additional income you’re worth in addition to your present income which is not commensurate with your qualification and experience

You must find time out of no time to think of other ways to earn additional income and take the necessary steps to exploit every possibility. Yes, think, ask around, network and pray if you believe in the power of prayers like I do for direction and you will be surprised what you can get.

A Yoruba proverb says someone who does not know how his contemporaries made it, will die running around. What other honest things are your colleagues doing to argument their income that you need to do?

Read multiple streams of income for journalists

http://mediacareerdiary.blogspot.com.ng/2015/06/multiple-streams-of-income-and-benefits.html

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
You must be alert to opportunities as you go about your daily editorial assignments.
A reporter once attended the briefing of the federal government YOUWIN project and dumped the documents on the requirements for getting grants in his house after writing his story.
His friend living with him took time to study the requirements, applied for the grant and got it to the surprise of the reporter who has a number of projects for which he has been thinking of how to get financial support.
The reporter applied the next year but did not succeed due to a large number of applicants more than the first year.

THINK AND DON’T PROCRASTINATE
In one of my desperate thinking time of how to legitimately earn additional income, I reckoned that a particular senior popular journalist should have a website to document his various publications and activities. I told him about it and he readily accepted. I was paid to get a web designer, supply the content and manage the site.
Do you procrastinate about what you need to do that can earn you money and end up not doing them? I used to be like you, but I have resolved to always strike when the iron is still hot and I am doing my best to ensure that no feasible income-generating idea is left undone at the right time.
Tracy says and I agree that ” the world belongs to those who reach out and grab it with both hands.”
“It belongs to those who do something rather just wish and hope, and plan and ( just) pray, and intend to do something, someday, when everything is just right.”
He adds that ” If you want to be more successful faster, just do and try more things. Take more actions. Get busier. Start a little earlier; work a little harder; stay a little later.”

MORE THAN LUCK
Don’t assume that every journalist who made it to the top is just lucky or was favoured. ” If you want more luck,” Tracy says ” take more chances. Show up more often. The harder you work, the luckier you get.”
After all said and done, you may still not be able to earn what you’re really worth, due to some factors beyond your control, but I have no doubt that you will have greater chances of not remaining too lowly paid than you’re worth.