The Content Track in Magazines
Vault brings you an inside look at the career path on the content side of the magazine industry.
Reporters, editors and writers spend much of their time reading newspapers, surfing online and checking in with their sources looking for story ideas. It is common for them to be working on a few different stories in various stages of completion at the same time. They may be setting up interviews for one story, while writing a final draft for another. Cover stories can take months to produce, while one-page articles may take as little as a day to write.
Associate Editor or Editorial Assistant: Responsibilities for this entry-level position are largely administrative. However, there are opportunities to review manuscripts, give opinions on story proposals, line edit copy, generate story ideas, and even write for the magazine itself.
Salary Range: $25,000 to $30,000
Copy Editor: Reviews and edits a reporter's or writer's copy for accuracy, content, grammar, and style. Some magazines also have a fact checker to verify statistics and other facts.
Salary Range: $35,000 to $45,000
Researcher: Responsibilities include fact-checking editorial pages and articles, as well as providing research for stories writers and reporters are developing.
Salary Range: $35,000 to $45,000
Reporter: Covers news events or a particular beat for more lifestyle oriented magazines. Pitches story ideas to the editor. Columnists, on the other hand, generally author articles based on their point of view about a specific topic and aren't necessarily encumbered by journalistic standards of objectivity.
Salary Range: $40,000 to $60,000
Managing or Senior Editor: Develops story ideas and assigns them to reporters or writers. Other responsibilities include editing copy and writing headlines, captions, or in-house columns. Larger magazines may have several editors overseeing different sections of the magazine.
Salary Range: $55,000 to $70,000
Editor-in-Chief or Editorial Director: Manages the editorial department, creates the editorial guidelines and develops the budget for the editorial content.
Salary Range: $70,000 to $100,000 (or higher in some cases)
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