Duties and Responsibilities :
To accomplish their primary goal of broadcasting current and accurate information to consumers, News Reporters perform many tasks. We analyzed several job listings to identify these core News Reporter duties and responsibilities.
Gather and Write News
News Reporters collect information on assigned topics to report accurate and timely news. They talk to sources, follow-up on leads, and do research to be as well informed as possible. They fact-check their findings, then write them up in an article for printing or a script to be read on-air.
Report On-Air
In broadcasting, News Reporters are filmed or recorded presenting the news. They may be recorded in a studio or in the field, depending on the story. They usually read off of a script, but also must be knowledgeable about the topic that they are reporting on.
Conduct Interviews
A key component of a News Reporter’s job is to conduct interviews. These may be broadcast live, or pre-recorded and edited. The News Reporter must have done research in advance and be prepared to to ask pointed and interesting question of the interview subject.
Generate Stories
News Reporters are tasked with generating new and interesting news stories to cover. They must always be looking for unique, relevant and urgent topics to bring to the public, and investigating interesting new angles of stories that have already been covered.
News Reporter Skills
Inquisitive, outgoing and driven, successful News Reporters are curious to find out as much as they can about any given topic and share it with the public. They are driven and persistent, and have excellent interpersonal skills and strong ethics. In addition to these general skills and personality traits, employers are seeking News .
Reporter candidates with the following skills.
- Strong writing skills, and ability to convey information in a clear, concise and conversational manner
- Excellent live reporting skills and strong on-camera presentation skills
- Able to work a flexible schedule, including nights and weekends
- Ability to interact professionally and build relationships and sources