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Columnist vs staff reporter

The differences between columnists and staff reporters 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 staff reporter. Additionally, a columnist has an average salary of $50,696, which is higher than the $44,906 average annual salary of a staff reporter.

The top three skills for a columnist include student newspaper, opinion pieces and twitter. The most important skills for a staff reporter are news stories, event coverage, and feature stories.

Columnist vs staff reporter overview

ColumnistStaff Reporter
Yearly salary$50,696$44,906
Hourly rate$24.37$21.59
Growth rate-10%-10%
Number of jobs1,78370,415
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 77%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Average age4040
Years of experience22

Columnist vs staff reporter salary

Columnists and staff reporters have different pay scales, as shown below.

ColumnistStaff Reporter
Average salary$50,696$44,906
Salary rangeBetween $34,000 And $75,000Between $26,000 And $76,000
Highest paying City-Washington, DC
Highest paying state-New York
Best paying company-VanEck
Best paying industry-Media

Differences between columnist and staff reporter education

There are a few differences between a columnist and a staff reporter in terms of educational background:

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

Columnist vs staff reporter demographics

Here are the differences between columnists' and staff reporters' demographics:

ColumnistStaff Reporter
Average age4040
Gender ratioMale, 53.2% Female, 46.8%Male, 44.4% Female, 55.6%
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, 6.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 9.7% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between columnist and staff reporter 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

Staff reporter example responsibilities.

  • Report to managing editor as member of editorial staff, contribute to newspaper editorials.
  • Utilize photography skills and assist editor with operations.
  • Perform copy editing, publicity and photography as needed.
  • Create multiple PL/SQL store procedures for generating daily and monthly reports for different medical requirements.
  • Report from red-carpet events, including: MTV

Columnist vs staff reporter skills

Common columnist skills
  • Student Newspaper, 16%
  • Opinion Pieces, 7%
  • Twitter, 6%
  • Mental Health, 6%
  • Feature Stories, 5%
  • News Stories, 5%
Common staff reporter skills
  • News Stories, 14%
  • Event Coverage, 12%
  • Feature Stories, 12%
  • News Articles, 6%
  • Conduct Interviews, 3%
  • Local Government, 3%

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