A reporter or journalist was "someone who watches what's going on in the world, and then tells other people about it", according to Silo Crook. Their work was generally focussed on "big, important" news, rather than trivialities. (AUDIO: The Year After I Died)
History
Early history
In 1899, the Sixth Doctor and Peri met Winston Churchill when he was a war correspondent in the Boer Wars. (PROSE: Players)
20th century
In the 1960s, TV journalist Harold Chorley covered the British Army's fight against the Great Intelligence and its robot Yeti in the London Underground. (TV: The Web of Fear)
Shortly after UNIT was formed, journalist James Stevens began investigating the organisation. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy)
In the 1970s, TV journalist Alastair Fergus covered Prof. Gilbert Horner's excavation at Devil's Hump. (TV: The Dæmons)
Journalist Jamie Ferguson was killed while investigating strange goings-on near Puddlesfield. (COMIC: The Celluloid Midas)
Journalist Sarah Jane Smith became the Third Doctor's companion. (TV: The Time Warrior)
21st century
2000s
In 2001, the Sixth Doctor and the Brigadier met journalist Claire Aldwych, who was investigating strange goings-on in Turelhampton. (PROSE: The Shadow in the Glass)
In 2003, journalist Gideon Crane went to Malebolgia to investigate Brigham Elisha Dashwood III's PSI machine. (AUDIO: Minuet in Hell)
In 2006, the Seventh Doctor met journalist Ruby Duvall, who was covering the SS Elysium's tour of Antarctica. (PROSE: Iceberg)
Cathy Salt was a journalist for the Cardiff Gazette. In 2006, she investigated the nuclear power plant that was being built in Cardiff. (TV: Boom Town)
In 2007, the Seventh Doctor persuaded journalist Shreela Govindia to submit an article he had written about telekinesis under her name as part of his plan to defeat the Butler Institute. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Warhead)
In 2008, journalist Vivien Rook was killed while investigating Harold Saxon. (TV: The Sound of Drums)
In the 2000s, the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble met journalist Penny Carter, who was investigating Adipose Industries. (TV: Partners in Crime)
In the 2000s, Jo Nakashima was killed while investigating ATMOS. (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem)
2010s
In 2013, the Tenth Doctor met journalist Kate Maguire, who was investigating Hyperville. (PROSE: Autonomy)
Lauren Mooney was a journalist who covered Andy Davidson's shooting of a refugee. (AUDIO: The Empty Hand)
Amy Pond began writing travel articles once the Doctor gave her and Rory a normal life. (TV: The Power of Three)
2020s
In 2020, Yasmin Khan went undercover as a journalist to get inside VOR. (TV: Spyfall)
Later history
Lillian Belle was a journalist living on Sunlight 349 and interviewed Daniel Ash at the site of a train crash. (PROSE: The Dalek Generation)
Keri was an investigative journalist for GFTV-3 who often came into contact with Bernice Summerfield (PROSE: Legacy, et al.) and the Doctor. (PROSE: Big Bang Generation)
By 200,100, when news had been entirely replaced with entertainment, such as game shows, broadcast from the Game Station, (TV: Bad Wolf, The Parting of the Ways) the general population on Earth did not know what a reporter was. When Malfi Pryn met reporter Silo Crook, one year following the Game Station's end, he had never heard the term, and on hearing its definition, likened the job to his sister's gossiping. (AUDIO: The Year After I Died)
Other references
A robot duplicate of Rose Tyler erroneously recalled that the Nestenes attempted to blow up the Earth while disguising themselves as journalists. (GAME: Robot Rose)