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Journalist vs columnist

The differences between journalists and columnists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a journalist and a columnist. Additionally, a journalist has an average salary of $60,828, which is higher than the $50,696 average annual salary of a columnist.

The top three skills for a journalist include news stories, multimedia and story development. The most important skills for a columnist are student newspaper, opinion pieces, and twitter.

Journalist vs columnist overview

JournalistColumnist
Yearly salary$60,828$50,696
Hourly rate$29.24$24.37
Growth rate-10%-10%
Number of jobs11,4881,783
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age4040
Years of experience22

Journalist vs columnist salary

Journalists and columnists have different pay scales, as shown below.

JournalistColumnist
Average salary$60,828$50,696
Salary rangeBetween $38,000 And $95,000Between $34,000 And $75,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NY-
Highest paying stateNew York-
Best paying companyBloomberg-
Best paying industryFinance-

Differences between journalist and columnist education

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

JournalistColumnist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common majorJournalismJournalism
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Journalist vs columnist demographics

Here are the differences between journalists' and columnists' demographics:

JournalistColumnist
Average age4040
Gender ratioMale, 46.6% Female, 53.4%Male, 53.2% Female, 46.8%
Race ratioBlack 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, 6.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.7% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between journalist and columnist duties and responsibilities

Journalist example responsibilities.

  • Manage studio operations, ensuring that shows run efficiently by floor directing, prompting and providing scripts.
  • Partner closely with 13WHAM ABC Rochester.
  • Award regional EMMY for spot news.
  • Edit headline packages, kickers, bumps and topicals.
  • Update stories to web page, twitter, and facebook.
  • Used ENG trucks to distribute live news feeds during broadcasts.
  • Show more

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

Journalist vs columnist skills

Common journalist skills
  • News Stories, 15%
  • Multimedia, 11%
  • Story Development, 11%
  • Local Community, 7%
  • Edit Video, 5%
  • Local News, 4%
Common columnist skills
  • Student Newspaper, 16%
  • Opinion Pieces, 7%
  • Twitter, 6%
  • Mental Health, 6%
  • Feature Stories, 5%
  • News Stories, 5%

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