Careers In Print Journalism

People only know that there are editors and writers in newspapers but when you check at the workforce inside news organizations, there are different kinds of editors and writers as well as a host of other workers that team up to bring fresh news to your doorstep every morning. Here are some of the different careers in print journalism.

1. Editor in Chief
This is the top honcho when it comes to the editorial work. All of the stories that come out in the paper will pass by his desk and get approved. This is why when a newspaper is being sued for libel cases, the name of the editor in chief is always part of the defendants in the case. This is because in the ideal sense, all articles should have been read and approved by the editor in chief.

2. Managing Editor and Associate Editor
These are the assistants to the editor in chief. They are not the ones who bring them coffee and should not be confused with the job description of a secretary. Often, managing editors are the second in command, along with associate editors. They are basically tasked to handle the writers and the contributors for the section. In smaller news organizations like in schools, they are also the ones who manage the day to day operations like the schedule and the budget.

3. Section Heads
In a newspaper, there are different sections. One for instance deals with lifestyle and the other one with news or with sports. To make the job easier for the top officers, there are people who are tasked to handle each of the sections. They are called section heads. They are the ones in charge of assigning work and coming up with different stories. For those sections that have smaller sub sections in them, there are journalists who are tasked to head those chunks and they are called sub-section heads. They are tasked to take care of their own sections along with preparing the materials and closing the page.

4. Writers
These people are the lifeblood of the newspapers as they are the ones who gather and deliver the news to you. These are the people who go to where the action is and see what they can write about it. Often, writers are assigned to different beats. For instance, one may be assigned to report about health while another writes about sports.

5. Correspondents and contributors
These are people who also write for the paper but are not directly under the company's employ. They can write and submit stories to different newspapers and they are paid per story and not per month like with the in house writers. Contributors are often what we call freelance writers. And because they are not employed by the company, they do not get the regular benefits but they don't also have to report to work.

6. Editorial assistants
These people are the ones who take care of the day to day operation of one section. They also write when needed but their function is to help smoothen the operations for the writers and the editors.

7. Copyreaders
These are people who check on the article to see if there are typos and in some cases wrong grammar that were missed out during the editing stage. These people basically check the whole article and correct any errors in them. Often, what they do is surface checking and nothing deeper like rewriting the whole article.