Career Profile: Reporter

Newspapers will be less interesting and much thinner without reporters or journalists.

The Career Information and Profile of the Reporter will be described in this article. A Reporter is also known as a Journalist. He is constantly on the move, attending press conferences, meetings and major events to do interviews and seek newsworthy stories. He must develop a wide network of contacts and keep abreast of the latest news.

Such a job requires long and irregular hours to meet tight deadlines.

As a Junior Reporter, he has to:

-Gather facts via interviews and on-scene research

-Write interesting articles based on the information gathered

-Generate story ideas for news articles

Later, when he progresses to be a Senior Reporter, he will specialize in an interest area such as health, property or transport, and will be expected to:

-Keep abreast of the latest and most newsworthy happenings in his area

-produce detailed analysis on the effects of policies or movements

-develop a wide network of contacts who will be able to give him insider scoops and tip-offs

A reporter must be quick and witty in gathering information, developing a network of contacts, and meeting tight deadlines. He must also be persistent and not give up in the face of irregular working hours and risky assignments, which are very common in this field.

He must have attended a basic reporting course of six weeks as well as a shorthand course with a speed of 100 words per minute. With experience, he may progress to become a Section Editor or Senior Editor.