Journalists: the portrait of the French Press Institute

""The French journalist, an employee in his forties working for the written press" : it is the typical portrait selected by Yahoo in the study of the profession carried out by the French Press Institute in the book "French journalists at the beginning of the year 2000. Profiles and experiences", by Valérie Devillard, Marie-Françoise Lefosse, Christine Leteinturier and Rémy Rieffel, Panthéon-Assas editions, 171 pages, 90 francs, 13.7 E). This portrait was obtained from the database of the Commission for professional Journalists' identity card (subject to confidentiality). Yahoo gives some of the figures: 31,903 holders in 2000 (20% more than in 1999 in a previous study of the IFP), 39% of women, 18% of freelance, an average age of 42, and a big majority working for the written press. Regarding salaries, the median salary is between 18,700 francs per month for employees and 10,700 for freelance. The difference is important: from 5,000 francs up to more than 50,000 francs gross per month, with a majority earning between 10 and 30,000 francs."