What this occupation does
News analysts, reporters, and journalists collect information by interviewing, investigating leads, and observing events to write news stories or commentary. The role spans field reporting, beat coverage, fact-checking, editorial production, and broadcast presentation across print, broadcast, and digital outlets.
The exposure score in context
The ILO 2025 refined Generative AI Occupational Exposure Index places news analysts, reporters, and journalists in the high exposure gradient. ILO 2025 places journalists in the high exposure gradient. Standard-form copy, summarisation, and routine reporting are exposed; investigative reporting, source cultivation, and editorial judgement are augmentation-prone but not displaceable at task level.
The mapping uses ISCO-08 code 2642 (BLS-published SOC-to-ISCO crosswalk). The full methodology, including the dominant-match rule for one-to-many crosswalks, is at /methodology/#algorithm.
The top five tasks, classified
The top five O*NET 30.2 tasks for this occupation, each tagged Displaceable / Changing / Growing per the Brookings 2024 task-level rubric. The tag definitions are at /glossary/#displaceable-task, /glossary/#changing-task, and /glossary/#growing-task.
- Displaceable: Write commentaries, columns, or scripts, using computers. Standard-form column drafting is technically and contextually feasible for current generative AI.
- Growing: Examine news items of local, national, and international significance to determine topics to address, or obtain assignments from editorial staff. Editorial judgement is augmentation-prone per Brookings 2024 and grows as AI handles more drafting.
- Growing: Coordinate and serve as an anchor on news broadcast programs. Broadcast presence is physical, social, and contextually constrained; augmentation-prone but not displaceable.
- Growing: Investigate breaking news developments, such as disasters, crimes, and human-interest stories. Investigative reporting requires source cultivation and physical presence; not displaceable at task level.
- Changing: Verify facts, dates, and statistics, using standard reference sources. AI fact-checking is widely used; final verification accountability remains human.
What is growing in this role
The BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035 outlook for news analysts, reporters, and journalists is decline (-6% projected change). Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035.
Per the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, the top three growing skills relevant to this role are: Creative thinking, Curiosity and lifelong learning, AI and big data. The skills are mapped to the occupation's O*NET skills profile.
Brookings 2024 finds journalism among the most-exposed knowledge work; investigative reporting, editorial judgement, and source cultivation are augmentation-prone.
Similar occupations
O*NET 30.2 lists the following related roles. Each links to its own deep dive where one is published.
- Writers and Authors
- Interpreters and Translators
- Marketing Managers
- Graphic Designers
- Human Resources Specialists
Industry context
This role sits primarily in the Creative Industries industry. The industry-level rollup includes the cross-occupation exposure profile and the BLS-published industry-level outlook.
How this assessment was made
The full methodology is at /methodology/: ILO 2025 refined index for the gradient, Brookings 2024 rubric for the task tags, BLS 2025-2035 for the growth outlook, WEF 2025 for the skills demand. The pre-empted critiques are at /how-to-argue-with-this/.