How To Become An Assignment Editor: What It Is and Career Path

What is an assignment editor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Assistant Amy Eisman

An assignment editor works as the brain box for a news organization and is the nerve center of any newsroom. You are to work with writers, photographers, producers, and other members of the news team to generate an interesting storyline and captivate the reader. You are to plan and develop daily news coverage and edit stories before they are published. You will also meet with the news staff to review stories and assignments.

When developing a story, you are the main point of communication between the reporters, the executive team, and the production unit. You are to monitor all stories and see that they are developed as planned. You will also assist in assigning the task of covering stories to different news staff.

To be a successful assignment editor, you should possess excellent communication skills, good editorial skills, interpersonal skills, and strong communication skills. You are required to have at least a bachelor's degree in English, communications, or journalism. You should obtain training on the job alongside years of experience. The average salary for this position is $59,480 per year.

What general advice would you give to an Assignment Editor?

Assistant Amy Eisman

Assistant Professor, American University

One skill is easy: be flexible. The technology is changing at lightning speed. At the moment, it helps to be strong at data journalism and understanding emergent technology, such as AI. Topic areas of interest include climate coverage, health and education. It also helps to be a great team player; the speed of news means you rarely work alone. Overall, make sure you embrace the basics in the field: accuracy, fairness, transparency, independence and accountability. Be a solid writer and an even better editor and producer. No one can predict what is next for technology. Employers therefore will look for people who uphold the values of the past, are enthusiastic about the present and are curious about the future.

ScoreAssignment EditorUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $48,582

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.7

Growth Rate -5%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.27%

Asian 6.32%

Black or African American 3.76%

Hispanic or Latino 8.62%

Unknown 4.65%

White 76.38%

Gender

female 51.11%

male 48.89%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.3

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an assignment editor

Explore assignment editor education requirements

Most common assignment editor degrees

Bachelor's

84.7 %

Master's

7.1 %

Associate

5.2 %

Start to develop specific assignment editor skills

Skills	Percentages
Twitter	11.60%
Assignment Desk	9.31%
Phone Calls	6.36%
News Management	4.71%
Local News	4.66%

Complete relevant assignment editor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New assignment editors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an assignment editor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real assignment editor resumes.

Research assignment editor duties and responsibilities

Manage all audio/video material logging, digitizing, and archiving.
Manage incoming and outgoing video footage from CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, and affiliate stations.
Manage the Facebook/Twitter social media pages for the station and interact with viewers for the purposes of research and community morale.
Manage and create newsletter archives for NASA: http: //www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/home/index.html

Prepare your assignment editor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your assignment editor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an assignment editor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Assignment Editor Resume templates

Build a professional Assignment Editor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Assignment Editor resume.

Apply for assignment editor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an assignment editor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams