20 tasks, each one witnessed by the sources that watched the job — and behind every one, a prompt you can use tonight.
You often start by checking police scanners, email tips, and the paper’s newsroom Slack or Outlook. Morning can be chasing breaking calls, filing a short online update (HTML or the CMS), then researching background on older cases in police logs or court records.
Afternoons usually mean interviews, photographing a scene or court hearing, writing a fuller story in Word or the CMS, and coordinating with an editor about angle, graphics, or updates as new facts come in. You may also post follow-up updates online later.
Expect Microsoft Office (Word for drafting, Excel for tracking beats or arrest logs, PowerPoint for presentations to editors) and Microsoft Outlook for email. News websites use HTML or a content management system (CMS) to publish stories and photos.
You’ll also use a camera or phone for photos/video, an audio recorder or phone app for interviews, and simple transcription tools. Learn basic CMS publishing and how to paste clean HTML when needed.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were about 39,250 reporters, correspondents, and broadcast news analysts in 2025. The median pay was $62,200 per year; the lowest 10% earned about $36,240, while the top 10% made around $144,140.
Pay varies by market size, medium (print, online, broadcast), and experience. Local papers and small websites tend toward the lower range; big-city outlets and specialized investigative roles reach the top end.
Start by writing short news stories for your school paper or a local community site; practice interviewing teachers, police beat reporters, or community leaders. Learn Word, Excel, and basic HTML (how to format links, headings, and images) so you can file clean copy.
Volunteer or intern at a local paper, TV station, or online news site. Take journalism, criminal justice, or English classes, and watch how reporters structure stories and ask questions. Build a portfolio of published clips or blog posts.
A crime reporter investigates and writes independently, seeking facts and often asking tough questions. Your job is to inform the public, pursue multiple sources, and edit stories for accuracy and style. You’ll use tools like Outlook, Word, and Excel and publish via HTML/CMS.
A PIO works for the police or court and speaks for that institution, sharing official statements and controlling the message. Their goal is to represent the agency, not to investigate it. The reporter’s role is watchdog and storyteller.
You can use AI for tasks like transcribing interviews, summarizing background documents, or generating first-draft outlines. Always check and verify every fact AI provides against original sources: police reports, court records, recorded interviews, or named sources.
Never publish AI-generated quotes, scene details, or legal conclusions without independent verification. Keep original recordings and notes; editors will want sources. Use AI as a time-saver, not a substitute for reporting, and follow your newsroom’s ethics and privacy rules.
Curiosity combined with clear, fast reporting. You must ask specific questions (who, what, when, where, why, how), follow small leads, and keep digging until facts hold up. That produces accurate, useful stories.
You also need reliable note-taking and the ability to organize facts in Word or the CMS, plus plain writing that editors don’t have to heavily rewrite. Being calm around trauma and ethical about sources matters as much as writing.