Media salaries are a joke, especially in NYC where the cost of living is so exorbitant. VICE hired me at $40k in 2015; when I got laid off in 2019, I was at $52k—and that’s only thanks to union-mandated raises. Salaries there are only half decent now because we fought for it.

Of course all my dude coworkers made way more than that, and my boss was later outed as a sexual predator, but that’s VICE for ya, lol.

I remember when I tried to negotiate for just $2k more I was told, “Sorry, we don’t have the money.” A couple weeks later, Shane Smith bought the Entourage mansion.