Careers in the newspaper industry offer a breadth of opportunities from story composition to publication layout to advertising design. The reporter is the most basic unit of a newspaper staff. Reporters serve as the eyes and ears of the newspaper and its readers. General assignment (GA) reporters cover any type of news from city council meetings to murder trials. Beat reporters are assigned to focus on specific topics, such as the local textile industry or school news. A key difference between the two types of reporter is that beat reporters typically generate their own stories while GA reporters are tipped to breaking news.

In addition to reporters, newspapers employ other types of writers. Investigative journalists spend days or months sorting through facts in an attempt to find and uncover news. Columnists write specifically about topics that are important to them, and they...