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Arts, design & media

Editors

Typically requires Bachelor's degree

What is this page & how do I use it?

This is a research report for one career — the kind an analyst would write for a stock. The rating at the top is the neutral baseline (same for everyone); below it come the cases for and against, how the last official forecast for this career actually aged, and what the education path costs and pays.

How to use it: read the bulls-vs-bears case, then hit Score this career to weigh it against your other options with your own interests factored in.

CareerStar rating
RiskyMedium uncertainty

Analyst take: Decent prospects — +0.6% projected growth, moderate AI exposure (65/100).

38
/ 100
low riskhigh
top row = high reward

Moat (borrowed from investing — the water that defends a castle): how shielded this career is from AI. None = broadly exposed — many of its tasks are automatable and its skills are widely shared. (Exposure ≠ job loss; see the bears below.)

The small grid is a style box (borrowed from Morningstar’s fund reports): the blue square places this career on reward (top row = high) versus risk (left column = low), against all 730 careers. Medium uncertainty means the score leans partly on forward-looking bets like AI exposure, so treat the exact number loosely.

🐂 Bulls say
  • +High pay — above 70% of careers ($75,260).
🐻 Bears say
  • Slow growth — behind 65% of careers.
  • High AI exposure — 65% of tasks are model-touchable (exposure ≠ job loss).
📜 Reality check — how the last forecast for this career fared

In 2014, the U.S. government projected -5.3% growth for this career by 2024. What actually happened: -1.2%. The forecast held up well — a reminder that every number on this page is an estimate, and this is how the last one aged. Full back-test →

Was this rating fair?
Projected growth
+0.6%
Median pay
$75,260
AI exposure
65/100
share of tasks exposed to AI — not job loss

Education & ROI — how to get here

Real outcomes for the college majors that feed this occupation, across 2,909 bachelor’s programs.

Median earnings
$32,815
1 year after graduating
Typical debt
$25,000
median federal debt
Pay-to-debt
1.3×
first-year pay ÷ debt
Feeder majors
Communication and Media StudiesBusiness/Corporate CommunicationsRhetoric and Composition/Writing StudiesJournalismPublic Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication
Selective schools offering these majors
Stanford University
CA · 4% admit rate
$87,833/yr
$124,080 grad pay
Harvard University
MA · 4% admit rate
$85,540/yr
$101,817 grad pay
Columbia University in the City of New York
NY · 4% admit rate
$89,472/yr
$102,491 grad pay
University of Chicago
IL · 4% admit rate
$90,360/yr
$91,885 grad pay
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MA · 5% admit rate
$82,730/yr
$143,372 grad pay
Northeastern University
MA · 5% admit rate
$84,641/yr
$92,538 grad pay

Earnings & debt from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard; majors mapped to this occupation via the NCES CIP→SOC crosswalk. A grounded ROI snapshot, not a guarantee — pay varies widely by school and specialty.

What this work involves

creativedesignartmediawriting