In Kenya, published figures put pay for a reporter at KES 10,000–KES 80,000 a month.
Published rates
KES 10,000–KES 80,000 a month
Sources
2 documents
What reporter work in Kenya pays, according to the documents that set rates there, each quoted as printed. How the pay guide works →
What the published rates say
Month
Employed reporters’ monthly pay, for comparisonPublisher’s rates
KES 80,000
Monthly retainer for Nairobi correspondents (lower outside Nairobi)Publisher’s rates
KES 10,000–KES 20,000
Foreign hires’ monthly pay for comparable roles (alleged)Survey
$10,000
Local staff monthly pay at international outlets (alleged)Survey
$1,500
Column centimetre
News article paid per centimetre of printed columnPublisher’s rates
KES 30–KES 50
Piece or item
Kenyan freelancers per story (alleged; foreign freelancers up to $1,500)Survey
$150
Article
Highest-paid article (Nation cover page)Publisher’s rates
KES 1,200
Each published rate as a day's pay
On staff · 1 figure
$1,500 a month
Freelance · 1 figure
$10,000 a month
US$ a day at the ECB rate for the month. A month is 12 payments over 260 working days, or 13 or 14 where the agreement says so; a year is 260 days; a shift counts as a day.
| Type of work | What | As printed | US$ a day | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On staff | Local staff monthly pay at international outlets (alleged) | $1,500 a month | $69.23 | Survey |
| Freelance | Foreign hires’ monthly pay for comparable roles (alleged) | $10,000 a month | $461.53 | Survey |
Every figure, as printed
Open a row for the wording in the document and its dates.
Printed
one centimeter fetches Ksh30-50DocumentNation Media Group correspondent pay: per centimetre, per story and retainers (Sep 2020) · Publisher’s rates StatusIn force
Printed
the highest paid news article (Nation cover page) is worth only Ksh1,200DocumentNation Media Group correspondent pay: per centimetre, per story and retainers (Sep 2020) · Publisher’s rates StatusIn force
Printed
a retainer of Ksh10,000 to Ksh20,000, for correspondents based in NairobiDocumentNation Media Group correspondent pay: per centimetre, per story and retainers (Sep 2020) · Publisher’s rates StatusIn force
Printed
employed reporters (earning from Ksh80,000 to over Ksh200,00)DocumentNation Media Group correspondent pay: per centimetre, per story and retainers (Sep 2020) · Publisher’s rates StatusIn force
Printed
$1,500 (Sh194,000)DocumentMP’s claim of pay gaps between local and foreign staff at international media in Kenya (Jun 2026) · Survey StatusIn force
Printed
up to $10,000DocumentMP’s claim of pay gaps between local and foreign staff at international media in Kenya (Jun 2026) · Survey StatusIn force
Printed
as little as $150 (Sh19,000) per storyDocumentMP’s claim of pay gaps between local and foreign staff at international media in Kenya (Jun 2026) · Survey StatusIn force
Printed
up to KShs 20,000 per story and up to a maximum of 10 stories per journalistDocumentMedia Council of Kenya special journalism grant: up to KSh 20,000 per story (1 Mar 2023) · Publisher’s rates StatusReplaced or expired · 1 Mar 2023
Questions people ask
In Kenya, published figures put pay for a reporter at KES 10,000–KES 80,000 a month.
MCK, in 3 documents.
About this data. These rates are compiled from publicly available sources and quoted as printed, with their date. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any figure. For information only: Journalist.net does not recommend or set rates. How we count