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Columnist vs news writer

The differences between columnists and news writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a columnist and a news writer. Additionally, a columnist has an average salary of $50,696, which is higher than the $45,129 average annual salary of a news writer.

The top three skills for a columnist include student newspaper, opinion pieces and twitter. The most important skills for a news writer are news articles, ABC, and SEO.

Columnist vs news writer overview

ColumnistNews Writer
Yearly salary$50,696$45,129
Hourly rate$24.37$21.70
Growth rate-10%-10%
Number of jobs1,78317,010
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 77%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Average age4040
Years of experience22

Columnist vs news writer salary

Columnists and news writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

ColumnistNews Writer
Average salary$50,696$45,129
Salary rangeBetween $34,000 And $75,000Between $31,000 And $64,000
Highest paying City-New York, NY
Highest paying state-New York
Best paying company-PitchBook Data
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between columnist and news writer education

There are a few differences between a columnist and a news writer in terms of educational background:

ColumnistNews Writer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 77%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Most common majorJournalismJournalism
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Columnist vs news writer demographics

Here are the differences between columnists' and news writers' demographics:

ColumnistNews Writer
Average age4040
Gender ratioMale, 53.2% Female, 46.8%Male, 45.1% Female, 54.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.7% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 9.5% White, 67.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between columnist and news writer duties and responsibilities

Columnist example responsibilities.

  • Share articles via twitter and facebook.
  • Frequent contributor to several British on- and off-line men's magazines.
  • Provide weekly articles on the NBA featuring analysis, news and opinions.
  • Content promotion via social networks (Facebook, twitter, etc .).
  • Focuse on trending topics while providing a solid SEO and social media component.
  • Explain complex NBA concepts and strategies in simple terms through diagram photos and videos.
  • Show more

News writer example responsibilities.

  • Manage transcription and queuing of b-roll tapes/interviews for live and pre-record broadcasts.
  • Manage the Instagram account, which mean publishing and keeping up to date with the articles.
  • Anchor news updates for top-rate, personality driven FM morning show.
  • Conduct interviews and create professional visuals with upcoming model and entertainers for lifestyle magazine publication.
  • Involve in newsgathering, show development and writing.
  • Used Photoshop and InDesign to adjust photos and paginate the newspaper.
  • Show more

Columnist vs news writer skills

Common columnist skills
  • Student Newspaper, 16%
  • Opinion Pieces, 7%
  • Twitter, 6%
  • Mental Health, 6%
  • Feature Stories, 5%
  • News Stories, 5%
Common news writer skills
  • News Articles, 17%
  • ABC, 7%
  • SEO, 6%
  • Edit Video, 6%
  • Control Room, 5%
  • Twitter, 5%

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