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.
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. "
The three companies that hire the most staff writers are:
- Highwire PR45 staff writers jobs
- CoStar Group13 staff writers jobs
- American Physical Society
9 staff writers jobs
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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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Types of staff writer
Updated January 8, 2025











