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Correspondent vs business reporter

The differences between correspondents and business 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 correspondent and a business reporter. Additionally, a correspondent has an average salary of $82,217, which is higher than the $45,788 average annual salary of a business reporter.

The top three skills for a correspondent include news stories, news coverage and feature stories. The most important skills for a business reporter are news stories, business news, and real estate.

Correspondent vs business reporter overview

CorrespondentBusiness Reporter
Yearly salary$82,217$45,788
Hourly rate$39.53$22.01
Growth rate-10%-10%
Number of jobs2,83554,760
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Average age4040
Years of experience22

What does a correspondent do?

A Correspondent is the backbone of every news agency today. It is through the correspondent experts write the news of a particular topic. Through Correspondents, a news agency can get an in-depth report of happenings and events which may not be possible through ordinary reporters. Correspondents are expected to have versatility and command on a particular topic. They are resourceful in finding newsworthy articles and getting the necessary interviews and data for a well-balanced informative report.

What does a business reporter do?

A business reporter typically writes articles with regards to breaking news making readers get informed about the industry's current changes and major events. Business reporters gather and analyze facts with regards to events that are newsworthy. They collect information through investigation, research, observation, or interview. Generally, they write and report stories for news magazines, television, newspaper, or radio. It is part of their job to establish innovative ideas for writing news that is associated with a business.

Correspondent vs business reporter salary

Correspondents and business reporters have different pay scales, as shown below.

CorrespondentBusiness Reporter
Average salary$82,217$45,788
Salary rangeBetween $50,000 And $134,000Between $28,000 And $73,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCNew York, NY
Highest paying stateNew JerseyNew Jersey
Best paying companyAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe New York Times Company
Best paying industryMediaMedia

Differences between correspondent and business reporter education

There are a few differences between a correspondent and a business reporter in terms of educational background:

CorrespondentBusiness Reporter
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Most common majorJournalismJournalism
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Correspondent vs business reporter demographics

Here are the differences between correspondents' and business reporters' demographics:

CorrespondentBusiness Reporter
Average age4040
Gender ratioMale, 45.0% Female, 55.0%Male, 54.1% Female, 45.9%
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, 6.3% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 9.5% White, 67.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between correspondent and business reporter duties and responsibilities

Correspondent example responsibilities.

  • Lead reporting in Mongolia, representing AFP's regional headquarters in Beijing.
  • Manage constituent relations regarding financial services, housing, budget, judiciary, homeland security, and government oversight issues.
  • Develop Facebook strategy, execute launch and manage content.
  • Handle education, foreign affairs, judiciary and natural resources issues; assist with appropriations requests.
  • Process FHA, VA and correspondent disclosures.
  • Gain knowledge of interviewing, photography, and newsworthiness.
  • Show more

Business reporter example responsibilities.

  • Manage the Facebook page for the newspaper.
  • Launch a social media presence for the section and coordinate Facebook chats.
  • Publish clips include health care trends in business, executive profiles, and start-up businesses' success stories.
  • Design overall content format to enhance SEO performance; company owner report dramatic improvement as a result of this change.
  • Attend an InDesign layout seminar, as well as a seminar on how to use social media to boost messages.
  • Report, video-record and edit two-minute weekly news clips for multimedia packages.
  • Show more

Correspondent vs business reporter skills

Common correspondent skills
  • News Stories, 17%
  • News Coverage, 11%
  • Feature Stories, 7%
  • Instagram, 6%
  • Financial Statements, 6%
  • Develop Story Ideas, 4%
Common business reporter skills
  • News Stories, 28%
  • Business News, 14%
  • Real Estate, 9%
  • Facebook, 8%
  • Edition, 4%
  • Clips, 4%

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