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What does a staff writer do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
Quoted expert
Mark Lounibos
What does a staff writer do

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.

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Staff writer responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real staff writer resumes:

  • Manage magazine's transition to a new CMS system.
  • Manage website by uploading and scheduling articles, fixing errors, proofreading, optimizing for SEO, and polishing content.
  • Manage arts and entertainment editorial calendar, assign stories to multiple freelancers and plan daily coverage.
  • Assist with copywriting, magazine and advertisement layout.
  • Research, verify facts and edit all contributor submissions.
  • Create unique columns commentating on the social state of hockey and the NHL.
  • Promote new story post via various social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook.
  • Write out full, captivating titles and descriptions for the official VladTV YouTube channel.
  • Launch self-produced and edit YouTube video blog recapping hot topics and public comments at government meetings.
  • Used a variety of media editing software to include photoshop, final cut pro and falcon.
  • Write articles on particular stores and discounts, inserting coupon codes and promos through links and HTML.
  • Use of HTML code, WordPress, as well as other in-house applications on a weekly basis.
  • Focuse on exposing patterns, weaknesses and other nuances of the NHL through recaps and commentary pieces.
  • Collaborate with clients and support staff to develop customize resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles for clients.
  • Apply strong expertise in SEO (search engine optimization) toward authoring traffic-driving and broad-scope content reaching a diverse reader base.

Staff writer skills and personality traits

We calculated that 9% of Staff Writers are proficient in Feature Stories, News Stories, and Event Coverage. They’re also known for soft skills such as Teamwork, Technical skills, and Detail oriented.

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

  • Feature Stories, 9%

    Compose feature stories for faculty/staff and students Assist in editing/formatting newspaper for timely release

  • News Stories, 8%

    Conducted interviews to gather information needed for composition of news stories covering current events of interest to university students.

  • Event Coverage, 7%

    Contributed weekly album and live event coverage Researched and developed long-form story ideas

  • News Articles, 7%

    Covered both domestic and international conferences, penning breaking-news articles on immediate deadlines in a high-stress environment.

  • SEO, 6%

    Highlight: Creating engaging relevant consumer-facing content to maximize SEO rankings and advertising revenues.

  • Photography, 6%

    Generated ideas and articles for the environmental and legislative beats, including some photography

Most staff writers use their skills in "feature stories," "news stories," and "event coverage" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential staff writer responsibilities here:

Teamwork. One of the key soft skills for a staff writer to have is teamwork. You can see how this relates to what staff writers do because "technical writers must be able to work well with other writers, designers, editors, illustrators, and the technical workers whose procedure or product they are explaining." Additionally, a staff writer resume shows how staff writers use teamwork: "create a list of original article ideas to send to the editor weekly to encourage teamwork and help select writing topic. "

Technical skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling staff writer duties is technical skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "technical writers must be able to understand complex information." According to a staff writer resume, here's how staff writers can utilize technical skills in their job responsibilities: "write, edit and optimize news articles, features, technical documents, press releases, advertising copy and newsletters. "

Detail oriented. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of staff writers is detail oriented. This skill is critical to many everyday staff writer duties, as "technical writers create instructions for others to follow." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "write detailed accident reports based on news articles"

Writing skills. A big part of what staff writers do relies on "writing skills." You can see how essential it is to staff writer responsibilities because "technical communicators must have excellent writing skills to be able to explain technical information clearly." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical staff writer tasks: "helped launch local news blog, writing, taking photos and videos to post on the blog. "

See the full list of staff writer skills

The three companies that hire the most staff writers are:

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Compare different staff writers

Staff writer 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 staff writer annual salary with that of a journalist, we find that journalists typically earn a $15,984 higher salary than staff writers make annually.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both staff writer and journalist positions are skilled in feature stories, news stories, and event coverage.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a staff writer are more likely to require skills like "student life," "adobe indesign," "opinion pieces," and "real estate." On the other hand, a job as a journalist requires skills like "excellent interpersonal," "multimedia," "story development," and "local community." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Journalists really shine in the finance industry with an average salary of $64,488. Comparatively, staff writers tend to make the most money in the non profits industry with an average salary of $54,426.journalists tend to reach similar levels of education than staff writers. In fact, journalists are 4.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Staff writer vs. Editor

An editor is the one responsible for polishing and refining a story, article, and any material for publication in newspapers, magazines, books, or websites. Editors have the power to either accept or reject a material as they need to ensure that every manuscript which will be offered for publishing is at the best version as it can be. There are several types of editors, from copy editors, books to managing editors, but they have few skills in common, like strong writing skills, good judgment, and leadership abilities to help guide the whole editorial team. Most of them work in the office, but it is quite becoming more regular for them to work remotely.

Editor positions earn higher pay than staff writer roles. They earn a $7,263 higher salary than staff writers per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Staff writers and editors both require similar skills like "feature stories," "news stories," and "news articles" to carry out their responsibilities.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that staff writer responsibilities requires skills like "event coverage," "photography," "conduct interviews," and "student life." But an editor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "video content," "facebook," "editor-in-chief," and "edit articles."

On average, editors earn a higher salary than staff writers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, editors earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $62,170. Whereas staff writers have higher pay in the non profits industry, with an average salary of $54,426.editors earn similar levels of education than staff writers in general. They're 3.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

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

Mark Lounibos

Associate Professor, English, Finlandia University

Everything to do with digital literacy, especially related to your specific career. If you are interested in education, look for certifications for online teaching. If you are focused on editing/publishing, make sure you are proficient or certified in the latest software and systems. Try to build online networks of peers and possible colleagues. Maintain contact with faculty at your old institution, if they can help you on the job market later.

Staff writer vs. Production editor

A production editor is responsible for checking publication materials before printing and distribution to ensure error-free and accurate content. Production editors must have excellent writing communication skills to perform editing and proofreading of materials efficiently, following strict requirements of publication deadlines. They also verify the resources of content, as well as identifying highly requested feature opportunities by coordinating with writers and other industry personalities. A production editor negotiates contract offers for writers, provides feedback reviews, and facilitates brainstorming sessions.

On average, production editors earn higher salaries than staff writers, with a $8,431 difference per year.By looking over several staff writers and production editors resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "news stories," "seo," and "press releases." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a staff writer is likely to be skilled in "feature stories," "event coverage," "news articles," and "photography," while a typical production editor is skilled in "proofreading," "editorial production," "production process," and "production schedules."

Production editors make a very good living in the media industry with an average annual salary of $61,163. On the other hand, staff writers are paid the highest salary in the non profits industry, with average annual pay of $54,426.When it comes to education, production editors tend to earn similar degree levels compared to staff writers. In fact, they're 2.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Staff writer vs. News editor

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.

News editors tend to earn a higher pay than staff writers by an average of $8,978 per year.While their salaries may vary, staff writers and news editors both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "feature stories," "news stories," and "news articles. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "event coverage," "conduct interviews," "student life," and "blog posts" are skills that commonly show up on staff writer resumes. On the other hand, news editors use skills like facebook, news website, edit stories, and news content on their resumes.The professional industry tends to pay the highest salaries for news editors, with average annual pay of $63,412. Comparatively, the highest staff writer annual salary comes from the non profits industry.news editors reach similar levels of education compared to staff writers, in general. The difference is that they're 1.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of staff writer

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.

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