noun
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a person who reports, esp one employed to gather news for a newspaper, news agency, or broadcasting organization
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a person, esp a barrister, authorized to write official accounts of judicial proceedings
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a person authorized to report the proceedings of a legislature
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social welfare an official who arranges and conducts children's panel hearings and who may investigate cases and decide on the action to be taken
Etymology
Origin of reporter
1350–1400; Middle English reportour < Anglo-French ( Old French reporteur ). See report, -er 1
Explanation
A reporter is a journalist who goes out and gets the scoop on the news and informs the rest of us. If there’s a news conference or a train crash, a reporter is probably there getting the lowdown. If you want to be a reporter one day, you might study journalism in college, learning to write accurate and informative stories. Many reporters research, write, and edit articles about politics or current events, but you could also be a pop culture reporter or a tech reporter. The newspaper sense of reporter dates from 1798 — earlier it simply meant "one who gives an account."
Vocabulary lists containing reporter
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -er, -or
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Journalism Jargon
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"After that win, he was received by the vice governor of the Gansu province and this will be much bigger than that," said Chinese snooker reporter Joe Liu, who works for World Snooker.
From BBC • May 5, 2026
When reached by MarketWatch for comment, an external public-relations agency for Spirit directed a reporter to the airline’s Q&A page.
From MarketWatch • May 4, 2026
—Angel is a tech reporter based in San Francisco.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026
"Everyone is trying to endure it, but... they are falling apart," 40-year-old Amir, a Tehran resident, told an AFP reporter based outside the country.
From Barron's • May 2, 2026
Tiordan Whisperbrew, the famous, coolest reporter of all time and Seven’s idol, was sorted into House Hyacinth right alongside their best friend and now owner of the Squawking Crow newspaper, Inkpen Killian.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
