Legal Journalist

Legal Journalist performs 17 real tasks listed so you can see both routine work and occasional exceptions. The tasks outline objectives, typical timing and necessary tools like Microsoft Office. Each one shows where we found it, and comes with an AI prompt you can copy and use straight away.

17evidenced tasks
17ready prompts
7tools of the trade
27-3023.00O*NET-SOC code
39,250hold this job (US, BLS 2025)
$62,200median pay/yr (US)
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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)
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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.

Analysing5

Write news stories or articles

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Write a 750-word news story for the legal beat about the federal court ruling on Monday that narrows…
Write a 750-word news story for the legal beat about the federal court ruling on Monday that narrows prosecutorial scope, include two short quotes from the presiding judge's opinion, a 30-word lede for the homepage, and flag any unanswered questions for follow-up with the trial team.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptionsO*NET

Write online blogs or commentary on news events

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Write a 500-word blog post for the news site analyzing how the new plea deal policy will affect white-collar…
Write a 500-word blog post for the news site analyzing how the new plea deal policy will affect white-collar prosecutions, link to the court opinion, include one analyst quote and one suggested tweet-sized summary.
The tools that do the workHypertext markup language HTMLjob descriptionsO*NET

Coordinate with editors and news directors

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Send an update to Editor Maria and News Director Tom outlining today's coverage plan for the trial: reporter…
Send an update to Editor Maria and News Director Tom outlining today's coverage plan for the trial: reporter assignments, anticipated courtroom time windows, required legal review, and publish deadlines for noon and 6 p.m.—ask Maria to confirm edits by 10:30 a.m.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Outlookjob descriptionsO*NET

Conduct interviews with sources

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Arrange and conduct a 30-minute on-record interview with the lead prosecutor on Wednesday afternoon, prepare…
Arrange and conduct a 30-minute on-record interview with the lead prosecutor on Wednesday afternoon, prepare five targeted questions about charging decisions, record permission on the record, and request one follow-up document showing charging statistics.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptionsO*NET

Research background information for stories

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Compile background research for Friday's feature on sentencing disparities: collect five prior cases with…
Compile background research for Friday's feature on sentencing disparities: collect five prior cases with sentences, pull statutory citations, summarise trends in 300 words, and attach links to primary source documents for legal review.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Exceljob descriptionsO*NET
Protecting1

Photograph or videotape news events.

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Photograph and shoot three short video clips at the downtown courthouse on Tuesday—wide exterior at 9:00…
Photograph and shoot three short video clips at the downtown courthouse on Tuesday—wide exterior at 9:00 a.m., courtroom reaction at 11:30 a.m., and an exit interview with the defendant's counsel—deliver captioned stills and one 60-second edited clip.
The tools that do the workAdobe Photoshopjob descriptionsO*NET
The daily work11

Gather information through observation or investigation

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Watch the courthouse lobby between 9am and 1pm tomorrow, note who enters and leaves the civil docket 14…
Watch the courthouse lobby between 9am and 1pm tomorrow, note who enters and leaves the civil docket 14 hearings, photograph public documents when allowed, and file a two-paragraph eyewitness note with sources and timestamps by 5pm.
The tools that do the workFacebookjob descriptions

Update stories as new information emerges

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Track the defense filing in the Thompson v. City case throughout the day, update the live story with any new…
Track the defense filing in the Thompson v. City case throughout the day, update the live story with any new court filings or quotes from counsel, and append a clear editor’s note explaining what changed by 6pm.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptions

Transcribe or record interviews and narratives

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Transcribe the 40-minute taped interview with Judge Morales, mark timecodes for each key quote, clean obvious…
Transcribe the 40-minute taped interview with Judge Morales, mark timecodes for each key quote, clean obvious stumbles while keeping exact meaning, and deliver an edited transcript and the raw audio file to the producer by noon.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptions

Introduce pre-recorded news items

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Record a 30-second intro to the pre-recorded package on the corruption probe, state one fact, one…
Record a 30-second intro to the pre-recorded package on the corruption probe, state one fact, one consequence, and one line sending to the package, then upload the finished audio and a written cue to the desk by 3pm.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft PowerPointESCO

Read pre-drafted texts

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Read the pre-drafted 800-word court brief summary on air at 5:30pm, flag three lines for reads and one for a…
Read the pre-drafted 800-word court brief summary on air at 5:30pm, flag three lines for reads and one for a potential legal correction, and note any pronunciation issues for the teleprompter operator.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OfficeESCOsee the evidence ↗

Select pertinent material for presentation

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Pull the trial transcripts, the filings from the clerk, and the defence witness statements that directly…
Pull the trial transcripts, the filings from the clerk, and the defence witness statements that directly affect the negligence claim, flag exhibits that contradict the timeline, and assemble a short packet for the courthouse presentation tomorrow morning.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OfficeMicrosoft PowerPointjob descriptionsO*NET

Review and edit stories for accuracy and style

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Read the draft feature on the new sentencing law, correct factual errors against the statute and hearing…
Read the draft feature on the new sentencing law, correct factual errors against the statute and hearing transcript, tighten the lede for clarity, and annotate any quotes that need verification before publication Friday afternoon.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptionsO*NET

Transmit news reports from remote locations

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Send the live report from the remote courthouse including a two-paragraph summary, the quoted magistrate…
Send the live report from the remote courthouse including a two-paragraph summary, the quoted magistrate line, and one mobile-shot photo to the desk with transmission priority so the evening bulletin can run it at six.
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.

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Assign coverage for the environmental regulation hearing, gather the technical memo, one scientist contact,…
Assign coverage for the environmental regulation hearing, gather the technical memo, one scientist contact, and the regulator's statement, then draft a 600-word explainer tying the hearing to last month's pollution data for Monday's paper.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft OfficeO*NET

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

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Reply to the reader who complained about yesterday's crime piece with a clear explanation of our sourcing,…
Reply to the reader who complained about yesterday's crime piece with a clear explanation of our sourcing, offer to correct the one verified detail, and forward the exchange to the ombudsman with a timestamped copy.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OutlookO*NET

Develop story ideas or angles

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Run through the docket, recent rulings, and two expert briefs, brainstorm three distinct angles that would…
Run through the docket, recent rulings, and two expert briefs, brainstorm three distinct angles that would meet the weekend front page, and list the interview targets and their likely objections by noon.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptions

Says who?

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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

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Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses