Career
News analysts, reporters, and journalists
Find out what happened and report it.
$62,200
Median pay
-5.9%
Job growth, 2025–35
3,400
Openings a year
Bachelor's degree
Typical education
4 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Report news stories for publication or broadcast, describing the background and details of events.
- Gather information and develop perspectives about news subjects through research, interviews, observation, and experience.
- Research a story's background information to provide complete and accurate information.
- Arrange interviews with people who can provide information about a story.
- Establish and maintain relationships with individuals who are credible sources of information.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on creation & expression, then ideas & analysis?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Report news stories for publication or broadcast, describing the background and details of events.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Critical Thinking.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
4 years of education after high school (bachelor's degree), for a median of $62,200 a year and 3,400 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- CommunicationSee the degree →
- Public Relations and AdvertisingSee the degree →
- Radio, TV and Digital MediaSee the degree →
- JournalismSee the degree →
- Agricultural Communication/JournalismCIP 01.0802
- Communication, GeneralCIP 09.0100
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys$47,340 · -7.6%
- Editors$77,920 · -1.1%
- Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers
- Writers and Authors$76,910 · -0.3%
- Producers and Directors$90,360 · +4.0%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.