Can you make a lot of money being an editor?

Question

I was thinking about majoring in Journalism and then going on to be an editor. I was just wondering is it good pay or am I just wasting my time?

Answer 1

No, I have been an associate editor for a major national magazine and you make squat!

Visit www.mediabistro.com for salary information.

Answer 2

First, your answer depends upon how you define a "lot of money," and secondly how many dues you're willing to pay to become a successful editor. As a former journalist and journalism professor, I strongly suggest that you don't use the "money you could make" as your main reason for majoringin journalism. While the communications industry is quite broad, with many segments, and virtually limitless opportunities, you spend some years, after graduation, laboring in the pecuniary "vineyards" of this industry. Properly taught, journalism is a tough major, and therein lies your first challenge. You must select a good journalism program. If you're already it college, it might be a bit late. If you're a junior or senior in high school, start looking now. There's a lot of valuable information on the Internet.
Consider first what journalists do: they take "snapshots" of world history as it develops. Doing this successfully requires a broad range of skills, some of which you learn in college; and others you learn in the journalistic school of hard knocks.
To determine if you should major in journalism, consider your answers to the following questions:
1. Do you like to write?
2. Can you write with balance and clarity while focusing exclusively on the facts?
3. Do you have an insatible couriosity about how things work and why they work that way?
4. Do you enjoy research?
5. Can you effectively juggle several assignments simultaneously and complete each of them?
6. Do you like people, particularly talking to them, and more specificially, asking them probing questions?
7. Are you willing to be taught, coached and mentored long enough to learn journalism's foundational principles and perform them with a sense of excellence?
If you answered "no" to two or more of these questions, please do yourself a favor and select a different major.

Answer 3

don't do it for the money - do it for the fun of it.
if you look at it that way you might make some money...