Newspaper Or Magazine Editor

Typical Salary

£30,000 To £80,000

Typical Hours

37 to 39 variable

evenings / weekends flexibly

How To Become a Newspaper Or Magazine Editor

You can get into this job through:

a university course
working towards this role
training with a professional body

College / University

You'll usually start by doing a degree in English, journalism or media studies.

5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English

2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

a degree in any subject for a post

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship are not listed for this job.

Routes into this Career

You can start as a reporter or journalist with a regional newspaper or magazine and work your way up. There's a lot of competition for jobs so you may have an advantage if you've got a relevant degree.

Other Routes

You could take a proofreading or editing course, like the ones offered by the National Council for the Training of Journalists, the Society for Editors and Proofreaders and The Publishing Training Centre.

Skills And Knowledge

You'll need:

knowledge of English language
knowledge of media production and communication
the ability to read English
excellent verbal communication skills
to be thorough and pay attention to detail
excellent written communication skills
the ability to work well with others
to be flexible and open to change
to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

Day To Day Tasks

Depending on the publication you work for as an editor, you could:

commission articles
choose which articles to publish
decide how they’ll be laid out for publishing
assess work sent from freelance journalists, photographers and illustrators

Working Environment

You could work in an office.

Career Path & Progression

With experience as a local newspaper editor you could move on to regional and then national publications.

You could become editor-in-chief of a group of newspapers, or magazine publishers.

Volunteering Opportunities

You'll need to get some experience before applying for your first job in publishing. To build up your experience you can:

volunteer for student and community newspapers
keep an online blog
have an online presence on sites such as Twitter
submit articles and reviews to local papers or websites

This is also a good way to develop contacts, as many jobs are not advertised.

Tips & Information

Professional and industry bodies

You may find it useful to join organisations like the Society of Editors and Professional Publishers Association for professional recognition, training opportunities and to make industry contacts.

Further information

You can find out more about becoming a newspaper and magazine editor from:

National Council for the Training of Journalists

You can find out about other editorial and media careers from:

Discover Creative Careers

Restrictions & Requirements

Restrictions & Requirements are not listed for this job.