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News reporter vs content writer

The differences between news reporters and content writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a news reporter and a content writer. Additionally, a content writer has an average salary of $58,918, which is higher than the $41,481 average annual salary of a news reporter.

The top three skills for a news reporter include digital marketing, local community and facebook. The most important skills for a content writer are digital marketing, wordpress, and web content.

News reporter vs content writer overview

News ReporterContent Writer
Yearly salary$41,481$58,918
Hourly rate$19.94$28.33
Growth rate-10%4%
Number of jobs11,60919,621
Job satisfaction4-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 83%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age4042
Years of experience22

What does a news reporter do?

News Reporters collect and analyze facts about newsworthy events through interview, investigation, or observation. They carry cameras and take photos and video footage of objects or places of potential significance.

What does a content writer do?

The job of content writers is to create the best possible written or visual content ranging from blog posts to press releases. They produce the content for various types of websites, including social networks, news aggregators, and e-commerce sites. The job of content writers is not limited to writing, but also ensuring that the content connects or is relevant to the website pages. They are expected to set the tone of the website and revise the content upon customers' or clients' requests. They are also responsible for assisting in the creation of style guides.

News reporter vs content writer salary

News reporters and content writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

News ReporterContent Writer
Average salary$41,481$58,918
Salary rangeBetween $26,000 And $64,000Between $40,000 And $84,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNew YorkCalifornia
Best paying companyThe Monitor GroupCisco
Best paying industryMediaFinance

Differences between news reporter and content writer education

There are a few differences between a news reporter and a content writer in terms of educational background:

News ReporterContent Writer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 83%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common majorJournalismEnglish
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology

News reporter vs content writer demographics

Here are the differences between news reporters' and content writers' demographics:

News ReporterContent Writer
Average age4042
Gender ratioMale, 45.0% Female, 55.0%Male, 39.8% Female, 60.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.4% Asian, 9.6% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 6.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 5.0% White, 75.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage10%16%

Differences between news reporter and content writer duties and responsibilities

News reporter example responsibilities.

  • Report to managing editor as member of editorial staff, contribute to newspaper editorials.
  • Conduct interviews, edit clips and stories, and announce stories/headlines on air.
  • Work with editors to deliver content in the appropriate style with an eye for SEO.
  • Operate digital recording equipment to film b-roll footage, interviews, and on camera reporting.
  • Drive online traffic through social networking, weaving SEO strategy into story copy, and frequent blogging.
  • Work independently gathering news stories, capturing audio sound clips for air, and writing news stories.
  • Show more

Content writer example responsibilities.

  • Implement and manage Salesforce and Marketo for client to establish lead nurturing campaigns.
  • Maintain guest blogging strategy and policies to achieve a consistently diverse authorship and to grow readership.
  • Manage the editorial production of the pamphlets, brochures and graphic material to target worldwide audiences including china.
  • Manage proposal process from RFP (request for proposal) receipt to writing and editing various contributions to final RFP submission.
  • Collaborate with overseas team and manage documents using SharePoint to conceptualize and generate new marketing content.
  • Produce a wide array of literature ranging from poetry to short stories.
  • Show more

News reporter vs content writer skills

Common news reporter skills
  • Digital Marketing, 13%
  • Local Community, 10%
  • Facebook, 6%
  • Twitter, 6%
  • Develop Story Ideas, 5%
  • Instagram, 4%
Common content writer skills
  • Digital Marketing, 10%
  • WordPress, 9%
  • Web Content, 6%
  • Blog Posts, 6%
  • Digital Content, 3%
  • Content Marketing, 3%

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