How To Become A News Copy Editor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a news copy editor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Allison Harl Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a news copy editor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.09 an hour? That's $52,187 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -5,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a news copy editor?

Allison Harl Ph.D.

Associate Professor of English English Program Coordinator, Ferrum College

Develop as many multimedia skills as possible. Writing in the 21st century is about visual rhetoric as well as just words on a page.

ScoreNews Copy EditorUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,187

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.27%

Asian 7.02%

Black or African American 3.64%

Hispanic or Latino 8.28%

Unknown 4.61%

White 76.19%

Gender

female 42.11%

male 57.89%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a news copy editor

Explore news copy editor education requirements

Most common news copy editor degrees

Bachelor's

86.0 %

Master's

6.3 %

Associate

4.4 %

Start to develop specific news copy editor skills

Skills	Percentages
WordPress	48.75%
Copy Desk	14.79%
News Copy	11.28%
Feature Stories	3.47%
Proofread	2.98%

Complete relevant news copy editor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New news copy editors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a news copy editor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real news copy editor resumes.

Research news copy editor duties and responsibilities

Manage copy editing and proofreading responsibilities of weekly business newspaper and special supplements.
Manage copy editing and proofreading responsibilities of weekly business newspaper and special supplements.
Supervise newsroom staff of producers, writing teams in absence of main editorial supervisor.
Supervise and train editorial assistants.

Prepare your news copy editor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your news copy editor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a news copy editor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable news copy editor resume templates

Build a professional news copy editor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your news copy editor resume.