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I’ve worked in digital media for the last 10 years. Between building my own websites and working for large media companies, I’ve noticed a pretty consistent pattern: many writers and editors are underpaid.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for writers and authors is roughly $72,000 per year. In digital media, wages are often lower due to global talent competition and the ease of scaling content production.
But most people focus on the wrong explanation.
A lot of the conversation today focuses on AI replacing writers, automating content, and destroying creative work.
The pressure on writing jobs, though, started long before ChatGPT. The real shift goes much deeper than AI.
Once you understand it, you start to see why some people stay stuck financially, while others dramatically increase their leverage and income over time.
In this article, I want to break down:
- why many writing roles became underpaid
- how the economics of media changed
- what you can actually do to increase your value in today’s market
The Shift: Writing Became Easier to Scale
Years ago, if you wanted to become a writer or journalist, there were much higher barriers to entry.
You usually needed:
- a newspaper
- a magazine
- a publisher
- or some type of media company behind you
Those institutions controlled distribution. They controlled the audience. And because of that, they also controlled opportunity.
But the internet completely changed that system.
Suddenly, anyone could:
- start a blog
- launch a website
- build a newsletter
- publish online
- create a YouTube channel
- or grow an audience independently
That created incredible opportunity, but it also created massive competition.
At the same time, digital media became increasingly focused on scale, prioritizing more articles, higher output, increased search traffic, and greater revenue generation.
And now AI tools make basic content production even faster.
That doesn’t mean good writing has no value. But it does mean basic writing became easier to commoditize.
And when something becomes easier to replace, compensation usually drops.
According to Pew Research Center, newsroom employment has been declining for years, long before generative AI entered the mainstream.
While AI has certainly accelerated this trend, it didn’t create it.
The Pattern: Businesses Optimize Around Economics
Modern media companies operate under intense pressure to maximize output while controlling costs.
If two writers can produce similar output, companies will usually choose the lower-cost option.
Digital media intensified that pressure because content performance became measurable through traffic, engagement, conversions, subscriptions, and revenue.
Everything can now be tracked.
The problem is that many writing roles are still positioned primarily as production work. The focus is often on producing, editing, and publishing content as efficiently as possible.
Production work is also easier to standardize, outsource, scale, or automate.
That’s why many writers feel stuck financially. In today’s market, writing ability alone is often no longer enough to command higher compensation.
Related: Why Facing Your Finances Works (and Why Most People Avoid It)
Even outside journalism, similar patterns are appearing across digital industries. As Forbes noted in a recent article:
“The agency world is under siege, but AI isn’t the biggest disruptor. It’s something much more insidious: the commoditization of digital services.”
What this means in simple terms is that many digital skills became easier to replicate, easier to outsource, and easier to scale. And when that happens, competition increases and pricing pressure usually follows.
And interestingly, the internet also changed the balance of power.
Large media companies still exist. But independent creators can now compete directly with them.
You see this all over YouTube, newsletters, podcasts, and niche websites.
In many cases, smaller creators build stronger audience relationships than legacy brands because they move faster, communicate more directly, and better understand platform dynamics.
What matters now is less about distribution and more about audience attention.
And that changes what skills become valuable.
The Leverage: Why Some People Break Out
So where does that leave writers and editors today?
In my opinion, the people who increase their income over time usually do one thing differently:
They move closer to leverage.
Not just writing, but:
- strategy
- audience growth
- monetization
- systems
- distribution
- analytics
- business outcomes
That’s where the market is moving.
And that’s also why creators and independent businesses have become so powerful.
According to a recent IAB report, brands are now using creators and influencers as a core part of their marketing strategy rather than treating them as just an experiment.
Today, you don’t necessarily need permission from a giant media company to build something valuable.
Now you can create your own audience, launch your own platform, build your own systems, and develop direct relationships with viewers, readers, or customers. That kind of opportunity barely existed 20 years ago.
How to Increase Your Value as a Writer
Step 1: Check Your Current Market Value
If you feel underpaid as a writer or editor, start with data.
Look at:
- Indeed
- Glassdoor
- LinkedIn Jobs
- Freelance marketplaces
See what companies are actually willing to pay.
Not what people online claim they deserve, but actual market demand.
That gives you a realistic baseline, because sometimes the issue isn’t exploitation.
It’s a mismatch between expectations and market value.
Step 2: Audit Your Own Experience Honestly
This part might be uncomfortable, but it’s important.
You need to honestly assess your current level of experience and leverage.
If you’ve only been writing professionally for a short period of time, you probably won’t command the same compensation as someone with years of experience, strong credentials, audience influence, specialized expertise, or direct business impact.
And in most cases, that last factor carries the most weight.
That’s completely normal.
Early in my own career, I accepted lower-paying opportunities because I understood I was still building leverage.
I had experience running my own websites, but I didn’t have professional experience inside larger media organizations yet.
That experience eventually helped me move into editing roles and later negotiate better compensation elsewhere.
Sometimes playing the long game is the right move.
Especially when you’re building skills and credibility that increase your future value.
Step 3: Level Up Beyond Pure Writing
One of the biggest mistakes writers make today is relying entirely on writing itself as their only skill.
Because pure production roles are becoming increasingly fragile.
The people with the most leverage now usually combine writing with other high-value skills like:
- video editing
- SEO
- analytics
- audience growth
- monetization
- systems thinking
- branding
- content strategy
The good news is that learning those skills is more accessible than ever.
Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, Khan Academy, and YouTube have made self-education dramatically easier and more accessible than ever before.
Degrees still matter in many situations.
But increasingly, employers care about whether you can actually produce results.
So if you learn a new skill:
- build something with it
- start a channel
- launch a site
- edit videos
- create systems
- develop proof of work
Practical experience builds leverage faster because employers want proof you can actually produce results.
The Real Opportunity in Digital Media
Overall, I don’t think the real issue is simply that writing has lost value.
The bigger shift is that media became decentralized. Publishing and distribution became easier, which dramatically increased competition.
And now AI is accelerating all of it even further. That creates pressure on commodity writing roles.
But it also creates enormous opportunity for people willing to adapt.
The people who break out financially usually aren’t just “good workers.”
They understand:
- leverage
- systems
- distribution
- audience attention
- and business outcomes
And interestingly, that leads directly into the next episode: The Career Trap of Being ‘Good at Your Job’
Because in today’s market, being highly skilled at low-leverage tasks can quietly limit your long-term growth and income potential.
And that’s exactly what we’re going to break down next.
Thanks for reading,
Nick Hazleton