Viewers left ‘surprised’ after Channel Seven reporters publicly reveal their salaries

Two Channel 7 reporters have left viewers shocked after they publicly revealed their salaries in candid new interviews.

Viewers have been left stunned after two Channel 7 stars publicly revealed their salaries during street vox pops published online this week.

Reporter Rosanna Kingsun and news anchor Samantha Heathwood were stopped by a roving reporter from the Getahead jobs app and were each asked about their profession, what it entails and how much it earns them – and they happily obliged.

MORE: A guide to salary averages in Australia in your industry

“I’m a journalist for Channel 7 and journalists get paid about $80,000 to $90,000,” Kingsun told the reporter. “I’ve been a journalist for 12 years now, so quite a while. But there’s others in my office who’ve been working for five, six years. It really depends. It’s a craft. So you get better the longer you do it.”

Kingsun added that an “unpaid” internship is typically the way to get a start in her industry, and aspiring reporters need to be aware that they pretty much work around the clock.

“I do seven days straight and then I have Monday and Tuesday off, and then I have three days on,” she explained.

“We work Christmas Day and we work on Boxing Day because the news doesn’t stop.”

Reporter Rosanna Kingsun has revealed her salary in an Instagram vox pop.

The Seven star says she receives between $80,000 to $90,000 a year.

Heathwood, a journalist and weekend and afternoon newsreader on 7News Queensland, is in a similar boat.

“I make a lot less than people think,” she told the Getahead reporter in a separate video. “There’s this false idea out there that news readers and people in TV earn millions of dollars.”

The Seven star said she has worked for more than 20 years in the industry and she “earns a lot less than $200,000”, despite writing, interviewing and presenting for the network.

“People used to earn a lot of money because TV used to be the only way people get their news from, but now it’s so diversified with social media and the internet and all of that.”

Samantha Heathwood reveals she earns “a lot less” than $200,000.

Heathwood says she has been in the industry for 20 years.

Heathwood added that she went to university for four years and graduated successfully but still couldn’t find a job in her field for a year after finishing her studies. So she worked for free at WIN TV in Toowoomba for 12 months before landing a gig with the station at Rockhampton.

Despite the tough journey to get to where she is today, Heathwood said it’s “such a privilege” to be able to do her job.

After the videos were posted to Getahead’s Instagram account, many users had thoughts about women’s salaries, which they believed to be surprisingly low for their years and experience on the job.

“I’m surprised at the salary. I was expecting they would be paid a lot more than $90k a year,” one person wrote in the comments, while another said, “80 to 90 that’s s**t.”

Reporter Kingsun has also appeared on Sunrise.

Heathwood presents the news in Queensland.

“Not enuff! Should be minimum 140! Is this amount greed or simply the high cost of living?” another user asked.

“She deserves more than 200K,” one user said of Heathwood’s pay, while roping Today show’s Karl Stefanovic into the conversation.

He is believed to be paid $1.5 million by the Nine Network.

“I bet Karl doesn’t write, so how on earth he deserves more than 1 mil/year??? It’s all about ratings and I truly hope she’ll hit the jackpot sometime soon either through her writing or program rating.”