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Who is a Reporter?
The corruption in reporting starts very early. It's like the police reporting on the police ~ Julian Assange
A career as reporter is one of the most demanding yet rewarding professions in the modern world. There is a lot of struggle; to find and ascertain facts, make contacts, coax people into telling their problems and issues on record, meet deadlines, travelling to places where no one wants to go or where modern amenities are next to nonexistent. A reporter has to work in all kinds of environments, from a board room setting to the sports field to conflict zones; wherever an event of national, regional or local level is happening, you will always find a reporter present, such as the kind of work profile of a reporter. A news reporter may conduct interviews and reach out to people's locations to capture or absorb their reactions for the news story to be published in a newspaper or broadcasted on television. There are various types of news reporters depending on various beats they are assigned to cover stories. pursuing journalism or a mass communication course is important in order to understand the nuances of reporting, although, it is not compulsory. Here, in this article, we will discuss how to become journalist after 12th, what to study to become a journalist, the highest paying jobs in journalism in India, what subjects do I need to become a journalist.
Reporter in a Nutshell
Individuals who opt for a career as a reporter may often be at work on national holidays and festivities. He or she pitches various story ideas and covers news stories in risky situations. Students can pursue BMC (Bachelor of Mass Communication), B.M.M. (Bachelor of Mass Media), MAJMC (MA in Journalism and Mass Communication) to become a reporter. While we sit at home reporters travel to locations to collect information that carries a news value.
Quick Facts for Reporter
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Industry
Media
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Suitable for
Male, Female, Others
A career as reporter is suitable for everyone regardless of gender. A reporter career is based on fieldwork. He or she requires to travel from one place to another to collect information and news bytes of sources such as relatives, police officials and related people to present the news story.
Table of Contents for Reporter
What is the role of Reporter?
While you are sitting at home or in a safe environment reading a newspaper or watching the news on television, a news reporter must be at his or her duty. In career as reporter, individuals talk to various sources and take the pictures and videos of the evidence, happenings, and events and write a copy describing the story to send them to the headquarters for further editing and broadcasting on television or publishing in newspaper or magazine.
Research
A news reporter has to research various topics to pitch ideas for a news story. He or she has to read from various sources and stay aware of what’s happening in the city that carries a news value.
Investigate
A reporter holds the responsibility to investigate through a news story to provide accurate information to the public. He or she should not come into the trap of fake news or unintentionally misinform the public without checking facts.
Interview
A reporter has to collect information from various sources. It includes taking news bytes from officials, eyewitnesses and relatives. A reporter may often get the opportunity to interview eminent personalities such as politicians, celebrities, sportsperson.
Write
A news reporter must be able to clearly and concisely frame the sentences to convey the information accurately to the news editor or news producer. He or she must have five W (what, where, when, why, who) and 1H (how) in his draft that he or she sends to headquarters.
Collect Visuals
A news reporter is responsible for capturing the right visuals that build up the storyline and become proof of evidence to be published or broadcasted for viewers. The visuals presented on-screen must career authenticity and it should not carry any content that can not be published.
Update
A news reporter has to update the desk about any developments in the story. He or she has to provide up to date visuals and raw script to the assignment desk which further sends it to output desk after checking visuals and script to avoid any blunder.
Types of a Reporter
There are numerous types of reporters depending on the beats they are assigned. We have provided below a description of several types of news reporters who work on the story of the respective field.
Entertainment Reporter: An entertainment reporter reports on the ongoing happenings in the entertainment industry. He or she covers major stories that carry the interest of the audience. The film industry, the tv industry, and the music industry are considered under entertainment reporting. An entertainment reporter reports on ongoing events such as films, parties, and gossips about celebrities. He or she covers soft news.
Crime Reporter: A crime reporter is proficient in covering crime stories. It includes crimes such as robbery, murder, violence, corruption, blackmailing and instigating to do criminal acts. A crime reporter usually visits the police station to pitch top crime stories. He or she takes bytes of police officials, eyewitnesses, victim, convict and their relatives.
Business Reporter: A business reporter covers stories on the various aspects of the business and financial market. He or she has knowledge of trading and the stock market. He or she reports on NIFTY and SENSEX. A business reporter reports on the inflation and deflation of real estate, gold, petroleum, crude oil, steel and other materials.
What is the workplace/work environment of Reporter like?
On the front, a news reporter is required to work on a story and gather information from various sources. However, there is a lot that happens before that. A news reporter has to get the story approved by the desk editor or the head reporter, contact various sources, ensure that the facts are given or correct, and talk to the stakeholders of a news story. In a career as a news reporter, individuals work for broadcasting platforms based on video format is provided with video journalists to capture the shots of the locations, walkthrough, one-to-one, and vox-pop taken by the reporter. Those news reporters who work with bigger news organisations are also provided with transportation including the driver to reach various locations.
Does Reporter require travelling?
Likely
A reporter is required to travel on a frequent basis. He or she is required to travel to cover news stories. A career as reporter demands to be reached on the spots as early as possible to break the news story first. When it comes to reporting for television a reporter often requires to do live reporting from the spot and speak to various people related to the event that carries news value.
Employment Shifts
Full Time
Individuals who opt for a career as a news reporter may often be called at any hour of the day be it midnight or early morning when important news breaks. He or she is required to work on rotational shifts. The rest is dependent on the functioning of the news organization.
Employment Nature
Contractual, Permanent
In career as news reporter, individuals may work with a news organisation on both contractual as well as a permanent basis. Those who work on a permanent basis are known as reporters while those who work on a contractual basis are known as stringers.
Work Place
On-Field, Office
Individuals who opt for a career as a news reporter spend his or her most hours in the field collecting information from various news sources. He or she is required to visit the office to submit the story and visuals for further editing to be published or broadcast.
Presence in Geographical Area
Semi-urban, Urban
A reporter usually has a fixed working schedule. He or she does not get off on festivals, national holidays or even on weekends as any other professional. A news reporter has one or two off in the working week schedule of seven days.
Time Pressure
Likely
In career as news reporter, individuals work under frequent time pressure. Reporters who work for broadcasting media are required to cover stories as early as possible and update the desk on any development in the news story. Reporters stay under pressure to break the news story first on their channels.
Overtime Details
A reporter usually requires to work overtime. Due to frequent travel to cover stories and reaching the office back and reporting the desk, his or hour work hours often gets stretched. A reporter also has to wait for hours for eminent personalities to take their bytes on controversial issues. He or she has to continuously research new story ideas.
Weekly Hours of Work
Min 35 Hours
A reporter usually has a fixed working schedule. He or she does not get off on festivals, national holidays or even on weekends as any other profession. Individuals who opt for a career as a reporter have one or two off in the working week schedule of seven days.
How to become a Reporter?
Steps to become a Reporter
What are the skills and qualities required to become a/an Reporter?
When it comes to how to become a reporter in India, the first thing that they should know about is the skills required to opt for a reporter career. Some of the essential skills we have mentioned are below. Here, in this section, we have discussed how to become a news reporter in India.
Communication Skills: Communication skills are most crucial for a reporter’s role. He or she has to communicate with numerous people on daily basis. In career as reporter, individuals have to take bytes from strangers and make them comfortable to speak in front of the camera and mic.
Persuasive Skills: A reporter must be persuasive in nature. Everything he or she says or reports must be authentic and people easily get persuaded by his or her facts and information. Individuals who opt for a career as a reporter must look confident on-screen while going live or taking a walk-through and interacting with people.
News Sense: A news sense is crucial for a career as a reporter. Only the stories that carry news value can be reported. Any recent event or upcoming event that carries the interest of a bigger audience can be considered as news. If a dog bites a human then it is not news but if a human bites a dog then it becomes news.
Popular Online Arts And Crafts Courses and Certifications
Which certifications and internships can be helpful in becoming Reporter?
We have provided below major certification courses for aspiring individuals who want to opt for a career as news reporter. These courses may help them to upgrade their skills.
Internship Availability
After successful completion of a bachelor’s degree programme or during the semester break of the academic programme, individuals can opt for internships. Apply early for the internship is crucial to get timely opportunities for internships in a prominent news agency or news organisations. Initially, the candidates pursuing graduation or after completion of graduation are offered unpaid internships in news organisations. After a period of three months, they can ask for getting paid. Usually, the paid internship stretches for longer than six months. Candidates who have shown potential and a knack for reporting are hired on a permanent basis.
Also read - Career as news anchor
Career Path Progression for Reporter
We have provided below the hierarchy of careers in the field of reporting. One can progress over the years of experience and took up various roles including senior management roles such as bureau head or assignment head.
Stringer: A stringer is someone who provides major news stories to news organisations from nearby locations on a contractual basis. He or she is usually paid on the number of stories he or she provides that gets broadcasted or published.
Reporter: A reporter works on a permanent basis with a news organisation. He or she is paid a fixed salary on monthly basis and gets timely appraisals, unlike stringers. He or she pitches various story ideas and suggests them to the assignment desk and covers stories on approved ideas.
Bureau Head: A bureau head is the head of the reporting department. He or she assigns different beats to reporters. A bureau head asks the reporters about various ideas of pitching stories and approves the ideas depending on the channel agenda. He or she himself or herself assign reporters to work on a specific story.
Assignment Head: An assignment head is a senior-most role in the input department. He or she conducts the meeting of the assignment desks in which at least one executive from the assignment desk be present to inform about the major news stories provided by stringers and reporters.
Reporter Jobs and Salaries
Stringer
Hindustan Times, The Indian Express Ltd.
- Starting Salary 9166
Job Description
A stringer provides stories from nearby locations to news organisations on a contractual basis. He or she gets paid for each story he or she provides. A stringer can work with multiple news organisations without any restrictions.
Salary Description
An entry-level stringer could earn more than Rs. 100,000 per annum. A senior-level stringer could earn more than Rs. 300,000 per annum.
Reporter
Hindustan Times, The Indian Express Ltd.
- Starting Salary 25432
Job Description
A reporter works on a permanent basis with a news organisation. He or she is liable to cover stories that he or she has been assigned. A reporter is required to provide ideas for pitching news stories on regular basis.
Salary Description
An entry-level reporter could earn more than Rs. 250,000 per annum. A senior-level reporter could earn more than Rs. 400,000 per annum.
Bureau Head (News Reporting)
Hindustan Times, The Indian Express Ltd.
Job Description
A chief bureau head is a senior management news reporting role in the input department of the news industry. He or she assigns stories to reporters to cover and asks them to provide various story ideas. Reporters of various beats reports to the chief bureau head.
Assignment Head
Hindustan Times, The Indian Express Ltd., Zee TV
Permanent
Job Description
An assignment head is the senior management role. He or she is responsible for conducting a meeting twice or thrice with assignment editors concerning the important stories provided by stringers and reporters at various locations. An assignment head manages the news input system and oversees the stories that are further forwarded to the output desk.
What is the job outlook for Reporter?
There are limited news organisations that represent the mainstream media. There are lesser opportunities in mainstream media due to higher competition and delayed hiring. The website and youtube channel-based news organisations provide more opportunities to individuals, but pay at the initial level is also restricted to a lesser amount. There is a decline in the employment growth of reporters due to lesser advertising revenue in the media industry. Aspiring individuals are required to start acquiring at the initial level taking up the role of intern and writing as a freelancer for local newspapers, television, and radio stations and the salary of a journalist in India is also good. It is one of the competent careers, young individuals usually aspire to be reporters to get in the public eye or have contacts with prominent personalities.
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Frequently Asked Questions for Reporter
Que. What is the average salary of a reporter in India?
Ans.The salary of reporter in India varies depending on his or her experience and size of the news organisation he or she is working with. The average salary of reporter in India is Rs. 20,000.
Que. What is the average fee of Bachelor of Journalism course?
Ans.The average fee of Bachelor of Journalism course ranges Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 500,000.
Que. What are the top journalism colleges in Delhi?
Ans.We have provided below a list of top journalism colleges in Delhi.
Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi
University School of Mass Communication, New Delhi
Jagannath International Management School, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi
International Institute of Mass Media, New Delhi
Trinity Institute of Professional Studies, New Delhi
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Jagannath Institute of Management Sciences, Rohini
Express Institute of Media Studies, New Delhi
Lady Shriram College for Women, New Delhi
Que. What are the other job roles one can opt for after completing a bachelor’s degree in journalism?
Ans.Besides opting for a career as a reporter, one may find numerous other career opportunities such as copywriter, content writer, content creator, video editor, graphic designer, and PR executive.
Que. What are the other undergraduate courses that one can opt to become a journalist?
Ans.There are not any specific degree requirements in a particular specialisation to become a journalist. Candidates after completing graduation in any relevant specialisation whether it is journalism, mass communication, history, economics or any other field can opt for an internship in news organisations.
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Did you know?
Fact 1
The word fake news was popularised by former US President Donald Trump.
Fact 2
Hickey’s Bengal Gazette is the first published newspaper in India.
Fact 3
The Bombay Samachar presently known as Mumbai Samachar is the oldest consistently published newspaper in India.
Fact 4
Udant Martand was the first Hindi newspaper published in India.
Fact 5
Mahatma Gandhi had published four major newspapers Indian Opinion, Young India, Navjivan and Harijan.
