Media: career ladder

A media trainee starts at Rs. 8,000 per month while a principal correspondent who assign work to trainees may earn upto Rs75,000 per month. A news editor gets as much as Rs 1 lakh per month. Challenges | Quirky facts

Electronic media

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Level 1: Trainee/Intern
Involves a lot of running around and assisting higher-ups in getting sound bytes, writing basic scripts and monitoring the wires
Monthly salary: Rs 8,000 to Rs 15,000. Interns usually don’t get paid.

Level 2: Correspondent-anchor
Writing full scripts, getting reporters to send material from outstation bureaus, being in charge of your own stories.
Monthly salary: Between Rs 15,000 and Rs 35,000

Level 3: Principal/Special correspondent
Supervise correspondents, assign work to trainees, get "phonos" (telephonic interviews) for important stories, write headlines for the main stories
Monthly salary: Rs 35,000 to Rs 75,000

Level 4: News editor and above
In charge of directing the news flow on television. Take a call on which stories are primetime, whose reactions need to be aired, and which politicians/experts to bring in. Decide which stories to be followed up.
Monthly salary: Rs 1 lakh and above