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Assistant managing editor vs copy editor

The differences between assistant managing editors and copy editors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an assistant managing editor and a copy editor. Additionally, an assistant managing editor has an average salary of $66,497, which is higher than the $62,599 average annual salary of a copy editor.

The top three skills for an assistant managing editor include news stories, website content and news coverage. The most important skills for a copy editor are proofreading, house style, and digital publishing.

Assistant managing editor vs copy editor overview

Assistant Managing EditorCopy Editor
Yearly salary$66,497$62,599
Hourly rate$31.97$30.10
Growth rate-5%-5%
Number of jobs15,1544,866
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 78%Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

What does an assistant managing editor do?

An assistant managing editor assists the managing editor in overseeing an organization's daily publication operations and projects. They participate in setting publication goals and guidelines, establishing timelines and budgets, liaising with internal and external parties, and editing articles to ensure it fits the quality and standards assigned by the organization. They may also delegate responsibilities among staff, write articles, gather and analyze data, and coordinate with various writers. Moreover, as an assistant managing editor, it is essential to lead staff and monitor operations, solving issues and concerns should there be any.

What does a copy editor do?

The primary job of copy editors is to check for misspellings, incorrect punctuation, and consistency in typography, words, and style. They also act as fact-checkers, proofreaders, and project managers, overseeing the workflow and communicating with other departments. A copy editor's other duties and responsibilities include checking content for readability and compliance with editorial policies, rewriting text to improve readability and clarity, and arranging page layouts of articles, photos, and advertisements. Formal training is not required for this role, but copy editors generally have a firm grasp and love for the English language's proper usage.

Assistant managing editor vs copy editor salary

Assistant managing editors and copy editors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Assistant Managing EditorCopy Editor
Average salary$66,497$62,599
Salary rangeBetween $36,000 And $119,000Between $39,000 And $98,000
Highest paying City-Washington, DC
Highest paying state-New Jersey
Best paying company-PayPal
Best paying industry-Finance

Differences between assistant managing editor and copy editor education

There are a few differences between an assistant managing editor and a copy editor in terms of educational background:

Assistant Managing EditorCopy Editor
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 78%Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Most common majorJournalismEnglish
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityNorthwestern University

Assistant managing editor vs copy editor demographics

Here are the differences between assistant managing editors' and copy editors' demographics:

Assistant Managing EditorCopy Editor
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 48.6% Female, 51.4%Male, 39.2% Female, 60.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 7.1% White, 76.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 3.6% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 7.3% White, 76.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage12%12%

Differences between assistant managing editor and copy editor duties and responsibilities

Assistant managing editor example responsibilities.

  • Coordinate with editor-in-chief and managing editor to organize overall content of daily college newspaper.
  • Boost usability by managing content migration to iApps, leading maintenance & data/functionality QA.
  • Edit refresh online content to maximize SEO and write metadata for Lamaze.com.
  • Well verse in SEO, getting reporters out of the office and in the field.
  • Review, copy edit, re-wrote, and format to HTML other writers' work.
  • Use CMS platforms WordPress and MODX to post and revise content daily, often using HTML code.
  • Show more

Copy editor example responsibilities.

  • Manage copy editing and proofreading responsibilities of weekly business newspaper and special supplements.
  • Collaborate with managing editor and editor-in-chief to develop and post news coverage and multimedia projects.
  • Supervise editorial services and manage workload for multiple complex projects offering professional development training for educators via online and classroom delivery.
  • Compile NHL, NBA, NFL, golf and college roundups, and laid out the scoreboard page.
  • Call upon to produce special pages for NHL and NBA previews.
  • Serve as lead copy editor for NASCAR, college football, college basketball and NFL sections.
  • Show more

Assistant managing editor vs copy editor skills

Common assistant managing editor skills
  • News Stories, 11%
  • Website Content, 10%
  • News Coverage, 8%
  • SEO, 6%
  • Editor-In-Chief, 5%
  • Editorial Board, 4%
Common copy editor skills
  • Proofreading, 12%
  • House Style, 8%
  • Digital Publishing, 6%
  • Fact Check, 6%
  • SEO, 5%
  • Web Content, 5%

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