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News assistant vs senior editor

The differences between news assistants and senior editors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a news assistant and a senior editor. Additionally, a senior editor has an average salary of $90,094, which is higher than the $45,462 average annual salary of a news assistant.

The top three skills for a news assistant include assignment desk, video content and b-roll. The most important skills for a senior editor are edit content, video content, and SEO.

News assistant vs senior editor overview

News AssistantSenior Editor
Yearly salary$45,462$90,094
Hourly rate$21.86$43.31
Growth rate-5%-5%
Number of jobs7,13012,150
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 82%Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

What does a news assistant do?

News assistants are professionals who are responsible for assisting editorial personnel in a broadcasting newsroom by compiling, dispensing, and filing news stories. These assistants must call people who are involved in news events to obtain more information or arrange for on-air interviews. They must assist in recording, editing, and playing back tapes of news stories using splicing machines and equipment to help columnists or commentators. News assistants must also work in control rooms to direct the presentation of news during the live broadcast.

What does a senior editor do?

A Senior Editor determines the editorial content for a publication. They supervise the content creation process and manage junior editors.

News assistant vs senior editor salary

News assistants and senior editors have different pay scales, as shown below.

News AssistantSenior Editor
Average salary$45,462$90,094
Salary rangeBetween $33,000 And $62,000Between $66,000 And $121,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-Connecticut
Best paying company-Apple
Best paying industry-Finance

Differences between news assistant and senior editor education

There are a few differences between a news assistant and a senior editor in terms of educational background:

News AssistantSenior Editor
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 82%Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Most common majorJournalismEnglish
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityNorthwestern University

News assistant vs senior editor demographics

Here are the differences between news assistants' and senior editors' demographics:

News AssistantSenior Editor
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 41.3% Female, 58.7%Male, 51.7% Female, 48.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 7.1% White, 76.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 3.6% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 7.2% White, 76.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage12%12%

Differences between news assistant and senior editor duties and responsibilities

News assistant example responsibilities.

  • Manage campaign performance through data analysis and reporting, with actionable takeaways per designate KPI.
  • Act as a stand-in onset for CNN's anchors and guests.
  • Shoot and edit video for CNN.
  • Log and review all clips for newscast
  • Report, film, and edit news stories for the KTSW website and YouTube channel.
  • Compose and proofread material for publication.
  • Show more

Senior editor example responsibilities.

  • Contract and manage editorial freelancers and full-service vendors for successful high school Spanish and Latin textbook and ancillary programs.
  • Post video to the Fox17 website and youtube.
  • Complete several robust DVD authoring projects for clients.
  • Redesign the look and the style of lifestyle magazine.
  • Double traffic on the Instagram page with newly implement marketing plan.
  • Content editing for automobile DVD user manuals (English, French and Spanish).
  • Show more

News assistant vs senior editor skills

Common news assistant skills
  • Assignment Desk, 8%
  • Video Content, 8%
  • B-Roll, 7%
  • Facebook, 7%
  • Local News, 7%
  • News Coverage, 7%
Common senior editor skills
  • Edit Content, 11%
  • Video Content, 7%
  • SEO, 7%
  • Digital Content, 6%
  • Project Management, 4%
  • Facebook, 3%

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