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The differences between news writers 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 writer and a content writer. Additionally, a content writer has an average salary of $58,918, which is higher than the $45,129 average annual salary of a news writer.
The top three skills for a news writer include news articles, ABC and SEO. The most important skills for a content writer are digital marketing, wordpress, and web content.
| News Writer | Content Writer | |
| Yearly salary | $45,129 | $58,918 |
| Hourly rate | $21.70 | $28.33 |
| Growth rate | -10% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 17,010 | 19,621 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 81% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Average age | 40 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A news writer is primarily responsible for producing informative written materials about current events, ensuring quality and accuracy. Their responsibilities typically revolve around conducting interviews, traveling to different locations, pursuing leads, researching public records, and submitting stories within the expected deadline and set format. Typically working for newspapers or web news platforms, a news writer must also review materials to fact-check and correct any errors, monitor the progress of events or cases, and coordinate with other staff.
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 writers and content writers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| News Writer | Content Writer | |
| Average salary | $45,129 | $58,918 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $64,000 | Between $40,000 And $84,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | PitchBook Data | Cisco |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a news writer and a content writer in terms of educational background:
| News Writer | Content Writer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 81% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Most common major | Journalism | English |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between news writers' and content writers' demographics:
| News Writer | Content Writer | |
| Average age | 40 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 45.1% Female, 54.9% | Male, 39.8% Female, 60.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 9.5% White, 67.3% 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 Percentage | 10% | 16% |