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

What is a newspaper 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 newspaper copy editor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.0 an hour? That's $51,992 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 newspaper 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.

ScoreNewspaper Copy EditorUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $51,992

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 7.13%

Black or African American 3.53%

Hispanic or Latino 7.98%

Unknown 4.57%

White 76.53%

Gender

female 60.78%

male 39.22%

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 newspaper copy editor

Explore newspaper copy editor education requirements

Most common newspaper copy editor degrees

Bachelor's

87.8 %

Master's

5.4 %

High School Diploma

2.7 %

Start to develop specific newspaper copy editor skills

Skills	Percentages
Proofread	44.27%
Adobe Indesign	21.78%
Editor-In-Chief	13.20%
Editorials	10.72%
PowerPoint	10.03%

Complete relevant newspaper copy editor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New newspaper 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 newspaper copy editor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real newspaper copy editor resumes.

Research newspaper copy editor duties and responsibilities

Collaborate with managing editor and editor-in-chief to develop and post news coverage and multimedia projects.
Supervise a team of two copy editors and eight page editors, report directly to editor-in-chief.
Collaborate with copyrights team base in the UK to ensure publishing integrity standards weremaintain.
Collaborate with copyrights team base in the UK to ensure publishing integrity standards weremaintain.

Prepare your newspaper copy editor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your newspaper 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 newspaper 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 newspaper copy editor resume templates

Build a professional newspaper 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 newspaper copy editor resume.