Newspaper, radio or television journalists give information on current events. In order to carry out this activity, it is sometimes necessary for the journalist to be present at the scene of the events. Thus, when this happens the journalist receives the name of reporter.
Difference between journalist and reporter
Journalist and reporter are very similar concepts and on many occasions they are interchangeable terms. Despite this, there are some nuances that differentiate the activity of both communication professionals:
- Before telling a news story, the reporter has carried out an investigation on a subject and has also approached the facts directly and personally.
- The journalist does not always experience the news in the first person and then the account, but rather carries out his activity by disseminating information (for example, as a broadcaster, as an editor or as an opinion writer).
- A press journalist writes news and articles on various topics, while the reporter writes reports. In this sense, we could say that every reporter is dedicated to journalism but not all journalists are reporters.
- The reporter looks for his own sources of information and then disseminates them, generally in the first person and with a subjective treatment of the news (for example, war reporters tell what they see in a battle or in any enclave related to war) .
- Let's imagine that a radio journalist is speaking to the listeners at the microphone and to give information he establishes a direct communication with another journalist, which in this case would be a reporter who informs the listeners about some events that are happening at that moment . In this way, the reporter is usually at the bottom of the story.
Types of reporters
The reporter carries out his activity depending on the communication medium in which he works. Thus, there are radio, television or press reporters. Normally the reporter specializes in a certain subject (in spectacles, in warlike subjects, in sports, in social questions or in journalistic investigations on current subjects).
The word reporter
From an etymological point of view reporter comes from the union of the prefix re, which expresses the idea of backwards, and the verb portare, which means to carry or carry. Thus, the reporter is the one who carries the information starting from the past. On the other hand, it is a term that is also used in English (in English reporter is synonymous with journalist, newspaperman or pressman).
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