My July 21st post on one reporter's reasons for jumping from journalism to PR found salary to be a key concern.

Well, according to a salary survey cited in a new report in Editor & Publisher, this was no anomaly. Newspaper salaries are just plain out of line with the other opportunities available to college-educated individuals.

According to the report:

The 2006 Newspaper Industry Compensation Survey found that the average entry-level salary last year for the 521 dailies participating in the study is up 17.3% from 2001, but is still a humble $29,048, or 558.62 a week.

They'd be better off moving to the classified department, where the average salary for an inside sales rep last year was $36,077.

Even worse, salaries don't seem to be any more in line at the senior level.

Sports editors were paid an average salary of $52,632 last year, up about 15.5% from five years ago.

And that's a department head position.

The bottom line is this. As the news industry gets more competitive -- with the need for journalists comfortable in the online world as well as traditional mediums -- paying bottom dollar just won't do. Newspapers will lose their ability to compete and fall further out of favor.

All this, as the need for solidly reported news and analysis has never been more critical.