The results were revealed today by IoJ president Lau Chak Onn (far right) in the ‘Saving Journalism in the Age of Social Media’ forum in conjunction with the Cooler Lumpur Festival in Kuala Lumpur October 5, 2018. — Picture by Hari Anggara

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — Journalists who work in English-language media organisations polled earn more than their counterparts in vernacular language media companies, according to a survey on the income disparity between local journalists.

The Malaysian Media Salary Survey 2018 by the Institute of Journalists Malaysia (IoJ) also found that female journalists polled earn slightly more than their male counterparts.

Despite that, almost half of the 207 journalists polled felt that their current pay is “barely survivable”, while only less than 5 per cent stating they are happy with their current salary scheme.

According to the survey, a journalist with three to five years working experience in an English media outlet makes an average of RM4,294.00 a month, almost double what their counterparts in the Chinese media with the same years of working experience would earn — at around RM2,292.37 a month.

In comparison, a journalist in a Malay media news outlet earns RM3,407.78 a month on average.

Salaries by job description. — Chart taken from the Malaysian Media Salary Survey 2018 by the Institute of Journalists Malaysia (IoJ)

The survey also found that photographers take home the least pay among those in the field of journalism, earning an average monthly income of RM3,000.

This comes as reporters and writers from all language mediums polled earn more than RM3,000 a month, while sub-editors and “management editors” earn about above RM6,000 and RM8,000.

When divided by gender, male writers with zero to two years’ experience earn an average of RM2,276 a month, lower than what female writers earn at about RM2,654 monthly.

Male writers with more than 10 years’ experience take home RM3,800.40 monthly on average, compared to RM4,000.70 for female writers with the same years of experience.

Breakdown of writer salaries by years of experience, across different language mediums. — Chart taken from the Malaysian Media Salary Survey 2018 by the Institute of Journalists Malaysia (IoJ)

Of the respondents, 47 per cent were from print publications. Around 54 per cent of those polled were from English-language media, around 26 per cent from Chinese-language media and 19 per cent from Malay-language media.

The results were revealed today by IoJ president Lau Chak Onn in the “Saving Journalism in the Age of Social Media” forum in conjunction with the Cooler Lumpur Festival in the Publika shopping mall here.

In response to the results, Karangkraf Media Group’s executive adviser Datuk Abdul Jalil Ali said anyone aspiring to be a journalist should not be in it for the money, because it is not a job that necessarily pays handsomely.

“Salary is one thing. The other thing is whether you have the passion to write and to inform.

“If you want a high salary, then after a while in the field, you will likely leave and work for a public relations company... so the question is are you working for passion or money?” he said.