START

Business Reporter

Business Reporter does the concentrated work outlined here and you’ll find 20 real tasks to study. The descriptions make it easy to spot what newcomers should learn first. Each one shows where we found it, and comes with an AI prompt you can copy and use straight away.

20evidenced tasks
20ready prompts
5tools of the trade
27-3023.00O*NET-SOC code
39,250hold this job (US, BLS 2025)
$62,200median pay/yr (US)
Open Business Reporter in the interactive atlas →

What it pays

Government survey numbers — not estimates, not ads.

Half of all News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists in the U.S. earn more than $62,200 a year — the middle 80% land between $36,240 and $144,140. About 39,250 people in the U.S. do this work. Figures are for the U.S. occupation group “News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists”. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, published 2025.) In India, Professionals earn about ₹38,298 a month on average — around ₹4.6 lakh a year (government PLFS survey via ILOSTAT, occupation-family figure).
$62,200typical pay / year
39,250people in this work
$144,140+top 10% earn
₹4.6 lakha year in India (family avg)
Think you get this job?Six quick questions on how it really works — with a hint and the reason behind every answer.
Test yourself →

The work, task by task

These are the real jobs-to-be-done, not a wish list. Each task shows where we found it, and the prompt underneath is written for that exact task.

Keeping the record3

Write news stories or articles

+
File the draft on the Q3 earnings beat with headline, nut graf, two source quotes and dateline, then send the…
File the draft on the Q3 earnings beat with headline, nut graf, two source quotes and dateline, then send the copy to James in news desk for a 10:30 a.m. edit and flag any numbers that need a second check.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptionsO*NET

Photograph or videotape news events.

+
Capture a tight sequence of photos and a two-minute run-and-gun video of the CEO press conference, label…
Capture a tight sequence of photos and a two-minute run-and-gun video of the CEO press conference, label images by speaker and shot type, then upload the selects to the shared media folder for immediate use on the homepage.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptionsO*NET

Write online blogs or commentary on news events

+
Draft a 600-word online column linking today's central bank decision to bond-market flows, include two inline…
Draft a 600-word online column linking today's central bank decision to bond-market flows, include two inline links to our earlier coverage and a clear call to action for reader comments, then publish to the blog by noon.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptionsO*NET
Coordinate1

Coordinate with editors and news directors

+
Send an agenda to Lisa and Mark listing the morning editorial call, proposed angles on the merger story, who…
Send an agenda to Lisa and Mark listing the morning editorial call, proposed angles on the merger story, who will interview the CFO, and the deadline for pages, request confirmations by 9 a.m., and attach the latest draft.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Outlookjob descriptionsO*NET
Analysing2

Conduct interviews with sources

+
Arrange a 30-minute recorded interview with the retail chain CFO for Thursday afternoon, prepare five probing…
Arrange a 30-minute recorded interview with the retail chain CFO for Thursday afternoon, prepare five probing questions on margins and inventory, request on-the-record confirmation, and ask for any supporting slides.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Outlookjob descriptionsO*NET

Research background information for stories

+
Pull the company history, past earnings summaries, regulatory filings and three analyst notes on WidgetCo,…
Pull the company history, past earnings summaries, regulatory filings and three analyst notes on WidgetCo, annotate contradictions and send a one-page background brief to James before the 4 p.m. meeting.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Officejob descriptionsO*NET
The daily work14

Adapt to changing situations

+
Update the day’s copy, note the newsroom’s shifting priorities, reframe the lede and two nut graf options for…
Update the day’s copy, note the newsroom’s shifting priorities, reframe the lede and two nut graf options for an on-the-wire piece, flag any new sources to check, and send the revised draft to Sarah and the city editor by 4 p.m.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OfficeESCOsee the evidence ↗

Interview people

+
Prepare five tailored questions, confirm the interview time with Marcus at 2:30, memorise the opening three…
Prepare five tailored questions, confirm the interview time with Marcus at 2:30, memorise the opening three lines, record the session, and upload the cleaned transcript to the story folder within an hour of finishing.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OfficeESCOsee the evidence ↗

Select pertinent material for presentation

+
Select the strongest facts, quotes and visuals from the pile of interviews and press releases about the Q2…
Select the strongest facts, quotes and visuals from the pile of interviews and press releases about the Q2 retail earnings, assemble a two-minute on-air package outline with a clear opener, three supporting points and a closing line, and flag any numbers to verify before broadcast.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft PowerPointjob descriptionsO*NET

Review and edit stories for accuracy and style

+
Read through the business feature on the bank merger, correct factual errors in financial figures and company…
Read through the business feature on the bank merger, correct factual errors in financial figures and company names, tighten the lede for clarity, standardise house style on punctuation and dates, and return the revised copy to the editor by 10:30 this morning.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptionsO*NET

Transmit news reports from remote locations

+
File the three-minute live report from the trade expo including a written 250-word bulletin, two sound bites…
File the three-minute live report from the trade expo including a written 250-word bulletin, two sound bites timestamped, location and reporter line, plus a checklist confirming cellphone connection and backup audio before transmission.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Outlookjob descriptionsO*NET

Report on specialized fields such as medicine, green technology, environmental issues, science, politics, sports, arts, consumer affairs, business, religion, crime, or education.

+
Research expert sources and recent studies, draft a 600-word explainer on corporate ESG claims in renewable…
Research expert sources and recent studies, draft a 600-word explainer on corporate ESG claims in renewable projects with two independent expert quotes, one data chart reference and suggested headlines for web and broadcast.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsO*NET

Communicate with readers, viewers, advertisers, or the general public via mail, email, or telephone.

+
Reply to reader complaints about a profile piece, draft a courteous email that acknowledges receipt, offers a…
Reply to reader complaints about a profile piece, draft a courteous email that acknowledges receipt, offers a correction timeline, requests any additional documentation from the complainant, and copies the ombudsman and the editor.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OutlookO*NET

Develop story ideas or angles

+
Pull together three fresh angles on the city tech cluster: an investor trend, a startup casualty and a…
Pull together three fresh angles on the city tech cluster: an investor trend, a startup casualty and a regulatory risk; jot one-paragraph pitches for each, list two people to call, and schedule a pitching slot with the editor tomorrow afternoon.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Exceljob descriptions

Gather information through observation or investigation

+
Watch the court filing, the CEO townhall and the supplier meeting today, take notes on any new figures or…
Watch the court filing, the CEO townhall and the supplier meeting today, take notes on any new figures or conflicts, identify two sources to interview about the vendor dispute, and file a clear scene report by 6pm for the desk.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OfficeMicrosoft Outlookjob descriptions

Update stories as new information emerges

+
Monitor the earnings call transcript and the regulator bulletin, fold any corrections or fresh quotes into…
Monitor the earnings call transcript and the regulator bulletin, fold any corrections or fresh quotes into the running story, mark what changed for the editor, and publish the updated version within thirty minutes of verification.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OfficeMicrosoft Outlookjob descriptions

Create scripts for broadcast

+
Draft a three-minute broadcast script on the quarterly results that opens with the top-line number, includes…
Draft a three-minute broadcast script on the quarterly results that opens with the top-line number, includes two short analyst lines, a 20-second signpost to camera, and a clear read for the presenter by 09:00 tomorrow.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptions

Transcribe or record interviews and narratives

+
Transcribe the 40-minute interview with the CFO, time-stamp key quotes about guidance changes every minute,…
Transcribe the 40-minute interview with the CFO, time-stamp key quotes about guidance changes every minute, flag unclear passages for follow-up, and deliver the clean transcript to the producer by 2pm.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptions

Introduce pre-recorded news items

+
Write a tight 15-second intro and a 30-second bridge to lead into the pre-recorded report on the merger, name…
Write a tight 15-second intro and a 30-second bridge to lead into the pre-recorded report on the merger, name the interviewee and the key takeaway, and hand the copy to the anchor ten minutes before air.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OfficeMicrosoft OutlookESCO

Read pre-drafted texts

+
Read the pre-prepared company profile aloud for rehearsal, mark any awkward names or figures, correct two…
Read the pre-prepared company profile aloud for rehearsal, mark any awkward names or figures, correct two spelling errors, and return the annotated script to the copy editor by close of business.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OfficeESCOsee the evidence ↗

Says who?

These are the pages we read to build this. Open any of them and check us.

The logs, files & records this job keeps

Shared with other careers — the same record means something different in each.

Related careers

Same family of work — each with its own tasks and prompts.

The LLOS Work Atlas is the world's largest evidenced task library — a map of human work, with a ready prompt behind every task. 1,774 careers · every task named by the sources that witnessed it — O*NET, ESCO, real job descriptions, Wikipedia — and the deepest tasks by several at once. And it is honest about limits: where AI cannot help, the map says so.

The rest of the map

Same library, five ways in.

Copyright © LLOS.ai · 2026 — original pedagogy, voice, and design — all rights reserved.
Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses