I love seeing the calls to hire more Black journalists at @nytimes, @washingtonpost, @latimes, @PhillyInquirer and elsewhere. It's desperately needed.

But we have to talk about the pipeline... (1/X)

These papers are traditionally not the kind of papers that hire journalists who just graduated from college. These papers are traditionally the papers you work your way up to -- after you've worked at smaller papers or online news organizations.

And there's a BIG problem with that: Smaller newspapers don't pay sustainable salaries.

My first FT journalism job right out of college paid $21,500 annually. I wouldn't have been able to take it if I hadn't been married at the time, and had someone to split the bills with.

(And I was one of the higher paid reporters at that paper. I knew a girl who got $18K.)

A lot of newspapers pay starting salaries in the low $30Ks. Some of the bigger ones might pay as much as $40K (though those are usually in cities or pricier suburban areas).

Factor in taxes, college loan debt, other expenses... how much is someone actually taking home?