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The differences between investigative reporters and technical writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an investigative reporter and a technical writer. Additionally, a technical writer has an average salary of $65,329, which is higher than the $65,230 average annual salary of an investigative reporter.
The top three skills for an investigative reporter include investigative journalism, investigative stories and facebook. The most important skills for a technical writer are technical documentation, subject matter experts, and powerpoint.
| Investigative Reporter | Technical Writer | |
| Yearly salary | $65,230 | $65,329 |
| Hourly rate | $31.36 | $31.41 |
| Growth rate | -10% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 10,813 | 75,090 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 40 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
Technical Writers specialize in producing easy-to-understand instructional or informational written materials, such as media and journal articles, assessments and guidelines, and legal forms of documentation. For Technical Writers to develop well-versed content, one must conduct thorough research on the topic or idea to ensure factual legitimacy and communicate with those whose expertise aligns with the subject. Aside from producing, Technical Writers can also improve or convert complex written materials such as operating manuals or documents into one that can be easily understood by the general public.
Investigative reporters and technical writers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Investigative Reporter | Technical Writer | |
| Average salary | $65,230 | $65,329 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $104,000 | Between $48,000 And $87,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | HSBC Bank | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between an investigative reporter and a technical writer in terms of educational background:
| Investigative Reporter | Technical Writer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Journalism | English |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | University of Houston |
Here are the differences between investigative reporters' and technical writers' demographics:
| Investigative Reporter | Technical Writer | |
| Average age | 40 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 49.0% Female, 51.0% | Male, 49.7% Female, 50.3% |
| 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, 6.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 8.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 11% |