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The differences between investigative reporters and content editors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an investigative reporter, becoming a content editor takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an investigative reporter has an average salary of $65,230, which is higher than the $61,694 average annual salary of a content editor.
The top three skills for an investigative reporter include investigative journalism, investigative stories and facebook. The most important skills for a content editor are digital content, web content, and digital marketing.
| Investigative Reporter | Content Editor | |
| Yearly salary | $65,230 | $61,694 |
| Hourly rate | $31.36 | $29.66 |
| Growth rate | -10% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 10,813 | 18,586 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 79% |
| Average age | 40 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
An investigative reporter is a journalist who performs extensive research and analysis to build facts and current events into news stories. To make this possible, they must pursue leads relating to their subject, conduct interviews with witnesses or the people involved, travel to different places to gather pieces of evidence and other source materials, take videos or photographs, and coordinate with experts such as lawyers and doctors when necessary. Moreover, an investigative reporter must keep up with the latest trends in establishing news structures and news writing.
A content editor is an individual who is responsible for proof-reading articles written by content writers and write blog posts to promote the products and services of an organization. Content editors are responsible for producing monthly newsletters and optimize written pieces to increase user engagement. They need to interact with the consumers with the purpose of sourcing feedback on the content's impact actively. Content editors must also conduct business research on current trends to give the company an edge over the competition.
Investigative reporters and content editors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Investigative Reporter | Content Editor | |
| Average salary | $65,230 | $61,694 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $104,000 | Between $41,000 And $91,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | HSBC Bank | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between an investigative reporter and a content editor in terms of educational background:
| Investigative Reporter | Content Editor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 79% |
| Most common major | Journalism | English |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between investigative reporters' and content editors' demographics:
| Investigative Reporter | Content Editor | |
| Average age | 40 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 49.0% Female, 51.0% | Male, 43.5% Female, 56.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 8.6% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 12% |