Editor, Magazine: Job Description

 US only-> Education and Training: College

Salary: Median—$43,620 per year

Employment Outlook: Good

Definition and Nature of the Work

In general, magazines fall into two categories: business and professional and those intended for the general public. A magazine's success depends largely on the work of its editors.

There are different kinds of editors on a magazine, and their specific duties vary. On large magazines, the executive editor or editor in chief sees that the company's editorial policy is carried out. This job is primarily administrative, but the whole magazine—text, pictures, captions, and headings—is the final responsibility of the editor in chief. On most magazines the chief editor also expresses the magazine's point of view through editorials, which are short essays on subjects of current reader interest.

Most large publications hire managing editors to take charge of getting each issue out on time. These editors look after the day-to-day work of selecting articles, arranging copy, and supervising other editors. Sometimes they are put in charge of a bureau or branch office in another location such as New York or California.

The editorial staff on a magazine may include senior editors, associate editors, assistant editors, and editorial assistants. These editors may have different job titles, but their basic responsibility is selecting and editing articles or stories for each issue of the magazine.

In general, editors do not write articles. Instead, they form and shape the content of an article, which is usually written by staff writers or freelancers. Editors revise articles and may write headlines and captions and review page proofs. They must also be sure that the articles are the right length. If a story is too long, for instance, it must be cut very carefully to fit the space available. In addition, editors plan the artwork, illustrations, and photos that go with each story. They work closely with the art and production departments to prepare and approve page layouts that carry out the magazine's visual or graphic style. To help them, editors have editorial assistants who may answer letters, do research, or screen manuscripts that arrive at the magazine. When the editor finishes with an article, it goes to a copy editor, who reviews, corrects, and tweaks the article to fit the magazine's style.

On smaller magazines, which have smaller staffs, the executive or chief editor may perform a variety of editorial tasks, such as writing, editing, and copyediting, besides supervising the staff and keeping the magazine on schedule. In a small company each staff member has multiple jobs.

Source: The Gale Group, education.com