Columnists
Overview
Introduction
Columnists write opinion pieces for publication in newspapers or magazines or on news, general interest, or special interest Web sites. Some columnists work for syndicates, which are organizations that sell articles to many media at once.
Columnists can be generalists who write about whatever strikes them on any topic. Most columnists focus on a specialty, such as government, politics, local issues, health, humor, sports, gossip, or other themes.
Most newspapers employ local columnists or run columns from syndicates. S...
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Like reporters salaries, the incomes of columnists vary greatly according to experience, newspaper or magazine size and location, and whether the columnist is under a union contract. But generally, columnists earn higher salaries than reporters.
Writers who worked for newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers earned mean annual salaries of $73,740 in May 2023, according to th...
Work Environment
Columnists work mostly indoors in newspaper or magazine offices, although they may occasionally conduct interviews or do research on location out of the office. The exception are nature, environmental, and some sports columnists, who spend a considerable amount of time outdoors as they research columns. Columnists may work as much as 48 to 52 hours a week. Some columnists do the majority of the...
Outlook
Job opportunities for all writers are expected to increase by 5 percent during this time span—which is faster than the average for all careers. The employment outlook varies by type of content provider.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) predicts that employment of writers at publishing, broadcasting, and content providers will decline by 1.2 percent from 2023 to 2033.
Job opportu...