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The differences between journalists and authors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a journalist, becoming an author takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an author has an average salary of $78,368, which is higher than the $60,828 average annual salary of a journalist.
The top three skills for a journalist include news stories, multimedia and story development. The most important skills for an author are veterans, JAN, and DOD.
| Journalist | Author | |
| Yearly salary | $60,828 | $78,368 |
| Hourly rate | $29.24 | $37.68 |
| Growth rate | -10% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 11,488 | 953 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 40 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
A journalist is responsible for creating written correspondence, covering various subjects as the management requires. This task involves a lot of research investigations, conducting interviews, and gathering reliable sources to verify the authenticity of data before releasing the articles on news portals and other social platforms. Journalists should have excellent communication skills, both written and oral, conveying information to the target audience with high accuracy and efficiency. They analyze opinions and testimonies, create eye-catching headlines, and ensure adherence to deadlines.
An author is an individual individual responsible for developing creative stories published in formats such as books, movies, or television scripts. Authors conduct research of information that may be included in their works, whether they are fictional or non-fictional. Before publicly making their work available, authors must present a draft to editors for feedback and approval. Authors may work as self-employed or freelance and sell their written content to book publishers or advertising agencies.
Journalists and authors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Journalist | Author | |
| Average salary | $60,828 | $78,368 |
| Salary range | Between $38,000 And $95,000 | Between $51,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Beverly, MA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Bloomberg | John Wiley & Sons |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a journalist and an author in terms of educational background:
| Journalist | Author | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Journalism | Business |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between journalists' and authors' demographics:
| Journalist | Author | |
| Average age | 40 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.6% Female, 53.4% | Male, 49.5% Female, 50.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 9.6% White, 66.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 5.9% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 4.9% White, 75.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 16% |