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Publicist vs media relations assistant

The differences between publicists and media relations assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a publicist and a media relations assistant. Additionally, a publicist has an average salary of $50,679, which is higher than the $45,450 average annual salary of a media relations assistant.

The top three skills for a publicist include press releases, press materials and public relations campaigns. The most important skills for a media relations assistant are press releases, athletics website, and press conferences.

Publicist vs media relations assistant overview

PublicistMedia Relations Assistant
Yearly salary$50,679$45,450
Hourly rate$24.36$21.85
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs7,34323,773
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 83%Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Average age4242
Years of experience44

What does a publicist do?

Public Relations Supervisors are responsible for implementing the media and public relations strategy of an organization. Their duties include developing public relations campaigns, organize public relations events, assist in emergency response planning, updating documentation, monitoring media, improve management of press office, and manage media databases. They are responsible for assisting with journalistic content writing, refine internal processes, and track public relations activity performance. They help prepare reports as well as undertake competitor and market research.

What does a media relations assistant do?

A media relations assistant is an entry-level media and public relation professional. They offer administrative support to a public relations department within an organization. They perform a number of tasks such as researching relevant trends and data that help with the company's PR campaign, helping create marketing materials, maintaining relationships with existing clients, and working to find new clients. They also have to keep accurate correspondence records and monitor social media accounts.

Publicist vs media relations assistant salary

Publicists and media relations assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

PublicistMedia Relations Assistant
Average salary$50,679$45,450
Salary rangeBetween $30,000 And $83,000Between $32,000 And $62,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CA-
Highest paying stateWashington-
Best paying companyJ. The Jewish News of Northern California-
Best paying industryMedia-

Differences between publicist and media relations assistant education

There are a few differences between a publicist and a media relations assistant in terms of educational background:

PublicistMedia Relations Assistant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 83%Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Most common majorCommunicationCommunication
Most common collegeStanford UniversityNorthwestern University

Publicist vs media relations assistant demographics

Here are the differences between publicists' and media relations assistants' demographics:

PublicistMedia Relations Assistant
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 27.4% Female, 72.6%Male, 41.8% Female, 58.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage12%12%

Differences between publicist and media relations assistant duties and responsibilities

Publicist example responsibilities.

  • Manage publicity plans for fiction and non-fiction trade paperback titles.
  • Manage and write copy for client social media platforms and ECPR's social media deliverable, which involve SEO streamlining.
  • Book non-fiction author media tours.
  • Photograph events for the instagram account.
  • Maintain appropriate media lists, clips and coverage reports.
  • Post on Facebook and other websites to promote events & products
  • Show more

Media relations assistant example responsibilities.

  • Manage athletic contest statistics using various programs including Dakstats and other software.
  • Calculate statistics for basketball, soccer, volleyball and baseball to later be publish online.
  • Assist in developing PowerPoint presentations, including graphs and charts.
  • Experience with all Microsoft office products, Photoshop, and accounting software.
  • Travele with men's basketball, baseball, and to championship events.
  • Increase daily likes of official Facebook page (160k likes) by 300 percent in six months.
  • Show more

Publicist vs media relations assistant skills

Common publicist skills
  • Press Releases, 30%
  • Press Materials, 7%
  • Public Relations Campaigns, 5%
  • Instagram, 5%
  • Twitter, 5%
  • Writing Press Releases, 4%
Common media relations assistant skills
  • Press Releases, 17%
  • Athletics Website, 12%
  • Press Conferences, 4%
  • Alumni Events, 4%
  • NCAA, 4%
  • Twitter, 3%

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