How To Become A Beat Reporter: What It Is and Career Path

What is a beat reporter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Assistant Amy Eisman

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a beat reporter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $31.6 an hour? That's $65,737 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -10% and produce -5,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a beat reporter?

Assistant Amy Eisman

Assistant Professor, American University

One skill is easy: be flexible. The technology is changing at lightning speed. At the moment, it helps to be strong at data journalism and understanding emergent technology, such as AI. Topic areas of interest include climate coverage, health and education. It also helps to be a great team player; the speed of news means you rarely work alone. Overall, make sure you embrace the basics in the field: accuracy, fairness, transparency, independence and accountability. Be a solid writer and an even better editor and producer. No one can predict what is next for technology. Employers therefore will look for people who uphold the values of the past, are enthusiastic about the present and are curious about the future.

ScoreBeat ReporterUS Average

Salary

5.1

Avg. Salary $65,737

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate -10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.29%

Asian 9.68%

Black or African American 6.38%

Hispanic or Latino 12.64%

Unknown 4.38%

White 66.62%

Gender

female 40.73%

male 59.27%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.1

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.1

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a beat reporter

Explore beat reporter education requirements

Most common beat reporter degrees

Bachelor's

86.5 %

Associate

5.0 %

Master's

4.8 %

Start to develop specific beat reporter skills

Skills	Percentages
Feature Stories	17.38%
Twitter	10.48%
Hard News Stories	7.88%
Facebook	6.48%
Photography	6.04%

Complete relevant beat reporter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New beat reporters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a beat reporter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real beat reporter resumes.

Research beat reporter duties and responsibilities

Develop and write columns and editorials in the sports field as well as managed the blog website.
Update newspaper's Facebook account.
Cover issues relating back to health, writing print stories, producing broadcast video and photography.
Used twitter to monitor trending topics and reach out to points of contact to cover crime and jurisprudence.

Prepare your beat reporter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your beat reporter resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a beat reporter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable beat reporter resume templates

Build a professional beat reporter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your beat reporter resume.

Apply for beat reporter jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a beat reporter job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do beat reporters rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Beat reporter reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2020

Pros

Being creative, making your own hours, attending city council meetings, getting to know the mayor and members of the city council and writing about accused felons on trial.

Cons

Things get slow during the holidays. Staff reporters resent stringers.

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2019