Post Job

What does a News Editor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
Quoted Expert
Bradley Shreve
What does a News Editor do

A News Editor reviews and changes the content of a publication provided by writers and other contributors. They generally work for newspapers, magazines, and websites.

On This Page

News editor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real news editor resumes:

  • Manage the day-to-day production of the Olympics section as needed.
  • Manage online web CMS, updating metadata, optimizing SEO, editing HTML/CSS, and directing UX/UI updates.
  • Manage content on various CMS systems, including HTML coding and training numerous staff members on various CMS systems.
  • Maintain editorial calendar, manage freelance budget and coordinate with photo editor and designers to help ensure optimal presentation of stories.
  • Cover NFL playoffs and NCAA tournament games.
  • Cover UConn s 2014 NCAA tournament championship run on site.
  • Edit and proofread articles, design page layouts, and size artwork.
  • Train editors on SEO best practices resulting in record-breaking traffic, page views.
  • Help to establish better SEO practices and analyze metrics for further product growth.
  • Create timely NFL and MLB articles relevant to the release of the issue.
  • Work with editor-in-chief to ensure content has no typos, grammatical errors, misspellings or AP style errors.
  • Communicate with NDSU media relations department, college and NFL athletes, writers and other members of the media.
  • Serve as liaison between editor-in-chief and editorial staff.
  • Produce and edit multimedia work, including video and photography packages.
  • Manage copy editing and proofreading responsibilities of weekly business newspaper and special supplements.

News editor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 10% of News Editors are proficient in News Stories, News Coverage, and Instagram. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Detail oriented, and Good judgment.

We break down the percentage of News Editors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • News Stories, 10%

    Coordinated news coverage of five regional newspapers (generated/assigned/wrote/copy edited news stories)

  • News Coverage, 8%

    Directed breaking news coverage and a series of award-winning investigative projects.

  • Instagram, 8%

    Managed one to two interns for editorial and image content as well as maintained the Netted Instagram account

  • Twitter, 7%

    Managed social-networking efforts including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

  • SEO, 7%

    Upload content to the Nonpareil website through BLOX content management system, optimizing for SEO.

  • Facebook, 7%

    Managed the Rare News Facebook page, which has an audience of 1.4 million-plus.

Common skills that a news editor uses to do their job include "news stories," "news coverage," and "instagram." You can find details on the most important news editor responsibilities below.

Creativity. The most essential soft skill for a news editor to carry out their responsibilities is creativity. This skill is important for the role because "editors must be imaginative, curious, and knowledgeable in a broad range of topics." Additionally, a news editor resume shows how their duties depend on creativity: "write and schedule online-exclusive news articles and creative content for the mirror's website"

Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform news editor duties is detail oriented. News editors responsibilities require that "editors must be meticulous to ensure that material is error free and matches the style of a publication." News editors also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "reported news stories for broadcast, describing the background and details of events. "

Good judgment. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of news editors is good judgment. This skill is critical to many everyday news editor duties, as "editors decide whether certain stories are ethical and whether there is enough evidence to publish them." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "determined all news coverage for each issue of official school paper, exhibiting sound editorial judgment. "

Interpersonal skills. news editor responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "in working with writers, editors must have tact and the ability to guide and encourage them in their work." This resume example shows what news editors do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "coordinated interpersonal relations between editorial staff, artists, writers and judges. "

Writing skills. Another common skill required for news editor responsibilities is "writing skills." This skill comes up in the duties of news editors all the time, as "editors ensure that all written content has correct grammar, punctuation, and syntax." An excerpt from a real news editor resume shows how this skill is central to what a news editor does: "multi-tasked between pagination, writing, picture-taking, editing press releases and other tasks. "

Most common news editor skills

The three companies that hire the most news editors are:

Choose from 10+ customizable news editor resume templates

Build a professional news editor resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your news editor resume.
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume
News Editor Resume

Compare different news editors

News editor vs. Journalist

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.

If we compare the average news editor annual salary with that of a journalist, we find that journalists typically earn a $7,006 higher salary than news editors make annually.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both news editor and journalist positions are skilled in news stories, news coverage, and instagram.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a news editor are more likely to require skills like "news website," "edit stories," "editorial content," and "adobe indesign." On the other hand, a job as a journalist requires skills like "excellent interpersonal," "multimedia," "local community," and "edit video." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Journalists earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $64,488. On the other hand, news editors are paid more in the professional industry with an average salary of $63,412.journalists tend to reach similar levels of education than news editors. In fact, journalists are 3.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

News editor vs. Staff writer

A staff writer is an individual who works in the television (TV) or entertainment industry to provide standard content such as news reports, reviews, and features. Since writing content is important, staff writers must be able to collaborate and brainstorm ideas with other staff members in the production process. They must attend conferences, events, or seminars to meet other people in the industry. Staff writers must also possess knowledge in scriptwriting and an in-depth understanding of the entertainment industry.

Staff writer positions earn lower pay than news editor roles. They earn a $8,978 lower salary than news editors per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. News editors and staff writers both require similar skills like "news stories," "news coverage," and "instagram" to carry out their responsibilities.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real news editor resumes. While news editor responsibilities can utilize skills like "facebook," "news website," "edit stories," and "news content," staff writers use skills like "event coverage," "conduct interviews," "student life," and "blog posts."

Staff writers earn a lower average salary than news editors. But staff writers earn the highest pay in the non profits industry, with an average salary of $54,426. Additionally, news editors earn the highest salaries in the professional with average pay of $63,412 annually.staff writers earn similar levels of education than news editors in general. They're 1.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for News Editors in the next 3-5 years?

Bradley ShreveBradley Shreve LinkedIn Profile

Editor, Tribal College Journal

If you plan to teach, focus on becoming familiar with, and understanding how to use, different learning management systems. You should also know where to find various digital historical sources, whether in online archives or on the web. It is also crucial to be adept at using a variety of apps and social media platforms.

News editor vs. Technical writer

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.

On average scale, technical writers bring in higher salaries than news editors. In fact, they earn a $11,507 higher salary per year.By looking over several news editors and technical writers resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "adobe photoshop," "press releases," and "content management system." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from news editor resumes include skills like "news stories," "news coverage," "instagram," and "twitter," whereas a technical writer is more likely to list skills in "technical documentation," "subject matter experts," "powerpoint," and "visio. "

Technical writers make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $65,889. On the other hand, news editors are paid the highest salary in the professional industry, with average annual pay of $63,412.When it comes to education, technical writers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to news editors. In fact, they're 3.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

News editor vs. Editorial internship

An editorial intern is responsible for assisting the editorial team in publishing digital and media content, writing articles, and managing readers' reviews. Editorial interns must have excellent knowledge of the industry they work for, suggesting the latest trends and featured topics, taking notes of the tenured employees' advice and observations, and actively joining brainstorming sessions. An editorial intern must be detail-oriented and take constructive feedback as an opportunity to learn. It is also crucial to have outstanding communication and proofreading skills and keep all the materials confidential until release.

Editorial interns tend to earn a lower pay than news editors by an average of $21,466 per year.While both news editors and editorial interns complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like news stories, instagram, and twitter, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between news editors and editorial interns, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a news editor might have more use for skills like "news coverage," "facebook," "news website," and "edit stories." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of editorial interns require skills like "fact-check," "editorial intern," "administrative tasks," and "photo shoots. "

In general, editorial interns earn the most working in the media industry, with an average salary of $33,508. The highest-paying industry for a news editor is the professional industry.In general, editorial interns hold similar degree levels compared to news editors. Editorial interns are 1.6% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of news editor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse arts, entertainment, sports, and media jobs