reporter

American  

[ri-pawr-ter, -pohr-] / rɪˈpɔr tər, -ˈpoʊr- /

noun

reporters plural

1. a person who reports.

2. a person employed to gather and report news, as for a newspaper, wire service, or television station.

3. a person who prepares official reports, as of legal or legislative proceedings.

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reporter British  

/ rɪˈpɔːtə /

noun

1. a person who reports, esp one employed to gather news for a newspaper, news agency, or broadcasting organization

2. a person, esp a barrister, authorized to write official accounts of judicial proceedings

3. a person authorized to report the proceedings of a legislature

4. 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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• reporters
  plural

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reporter reporters

Munchetty joined BBC One's Breakfast as a finance reporter and has been one of the main hosts for the past 12 years.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Annie Linskey is a White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal, a role she assumed in 2022 after covering national politics for the Washington Post, the Boston Globe and Bloomberg News.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Guest: Will Sommer, senior reporter for the Bulwark and writer of False Flag, a newsletter about the online culture and communities now running our country.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

Helton was working on her computer on her back porch when visited by a ProPublica reporter.

From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026

As the four survivors climbed in, a news reporter snapped their pictures.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

“We want to operate at Chinese speed,” Soriot says on a call with reporters.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

“Were the reporters asleep at the switch or did they knowingly engage in some sort of deal with the 49ers to not release it?”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

"If the government does not honour the agreement and release everyone detained or arrested, we will be compelled to resume the protest," Ashutosh Ranka, a spokesperson of the CJP told reporters.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

He expressed optimism for an end to the war on Monday, telling reporters aboard Air Force One: "I think there's a good chance that something could happen."

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

“No amount of bombing can end the war,” an exhausted-looking McNamara told a few reporters in an off-the-record discussion in February.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

• columnist
• correspondent
• editor
• interviewer
• journalist
• writer