What does a staff reporter do?
Staff reporter responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real staff reporter resumes:
- Report to managing editor as member of editorial staff, contribute to newspaper editorials.
- Utilize photography skills and assist editor with operations.
- Perform copy editing, publicity and photography as needed.
- Create multiple PL/SQL store procedures for generating daily and monthly reports for different medical requirements.
- Report from red-carpet events, including: MTV
Staff reporter skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Staff Reporters are proficient in News Stories, Event Coverage, and Feature Stories. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Computer skills, and Persistence.
We break down the percentage of Staff Reporters that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- News Stories, 14%
Researched and developed human interest news stories
- Event Coverage, 12%
Composed long and short pieces, including breaking news, features and event coverage.
- Feature Stories, 12%
Write news and feature stories, covering a variety of subjects, including university affairs, human interest and sports.
- News Articles, 6%
Provided photographic images to accompany news articles.
- Conduct Interviews, 3%
Conduct interviews, and take pictures of local events for the school newspaper Submit written articles for print and the web.
- Local Government, 3%
Covered a variety of on-campus issues, including transportation and local government
"news stories," "event coverage," and "feature stories" are among the most common skills that staff reporters use at work. You can find even more staff reporter responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a staff reporter to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "reporters, correspondents, and broadcast news analysts must be able to report the news." Additionally, a staff reporter resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "write news and special interest stories, interview contacts,initiate communications; event coverage on campus and in the community"
Computer skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling staff reporter duties is computer skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "journalists should be able to use editing equipment and other broadcast-related devices." According to a staff reporter resume, here's how staff reporters can utilize computer skills in their job responsibilities: "use of indesign computer software program. "
Persistence. staff reporters are also known for persistence, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to staff reporter responsibilities, because "sometimes, getting the facts of a story is difficult, particularly when those involved refuse to be interviewed or to provide comment." A staff reporter resume example shows how persistence is used in the workplace: "secured news coverage access through persistence using community contacts. "
The three companies that hire the most staff reporters are:
- Gulfstream Aerospace2 staff reporters jobs
- General Dynamics1 staff reporters jobs
- Robert Half1 staff reporters jobs
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Compare different staff reporters
Staff reporter vs. Video journalist
Video journalists make videos conveying the news and factual stories for the audiences. Their day-to-day duties may vary but typically include editing, researching, and reporting, developing and planning live or taped video segments, and compiling data from various sources. In addition, a video journalist is responsible for verifying facts, interviewing subjects, and cultivating relationships and sources. Other duties that a video journalist might perform include on-the-spot reporting, anchoring a newscast, and producing content, and taking photos.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a staff reporter are more likely to require skills like "news stories," "event coverage," "news articles," and "local government." On the other hand, a job as a video journalist requires skills like "story development," "adobe premiere," "video content," and "edit video." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Video journalists earn the highest salaries when working in the media industry, with an average yearly salary of $81,579. On the other hand, staff reporters are paid more in the media industry with an average salary of $50,035.On average, video journalists reach similar levels of education than staff reporters. Video journalists are 2.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Staff reporter vs. Journalist
A journalist is responsible for creating written correspondence, covering various subjects as the management requires. This task involves a lot of research investigations, conducting interviews, and gathering reliable sources to verify the authenticity of data before releasing the articles on news portals and other social platforms. Journalists should have excellent communication skills, both written and oral, conveying information to the target audience with high accuracy and efficiency. They analyze opinions and testimonies, create eye-catching headlines, and ensure adherence to deadlines.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real staff reporter resumes. While staff reporter responsibilities can utilize skills like "local government," "adobe indesign," "real estate," and "opinion pieces," journalists use skills like "excellent interpersonal," "multimedia," "story development," and "local community."
Journalists may earn a higher salary than staff reporters, but journalists earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $64,488. On the other hand, staff reporters receive higher pay in the media industry, where they earn an average salary of $50,035.journalists earn similar levels of education than staff reporters in general. They're 3.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for staff reporters in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Maria Polski Ph.D.
Associate Professor, East-West University
Staff reporter vs. Columnist
A news anchor is a journalist who informs the public through reports of events and news stories. News anchors educate the public about the world, local, and national events. They interact with the reporters while they are in the air. Their job includes gathering, verifying, and analyzing data from different sources. They produce news and coordinate reports. Skills necessary for this job include verbal communication, the ability to improvise, collaboration, and reading comprehension.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a staff reporter is likely to be skilled in "event coverage," "local government," "photography," and "press releases," while a typical columnist is skilled in "mental health," "seo," "photoshop," and "nfl draft."
Columnists typically earn similar educational levels compared to staff reporters. Specifically, they're 3.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Staff reporter vs. Anchor
Even though a few skill sets overlap between staff reporters and anchors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a staff reporter might have more use for skills like "event coverage," "news articles," "local government," and "photography." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of anchors require skills like "story development," "develop story ideas," "news content," and "traffic reports. "
In general, anchors hold similar degree levels compared to staff reporters. Anchors are 1.4% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of staff reporter
Updated January 8, 2025
