Meaning & use
reporting
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Meanings
noununcountable
The work of gathering facts and telling the public what is happening, as done by journalists.
Grammar: No plural and no a/an: careful reporting, not a reporting.
Patterns
- reporting on something
- reporting from somewhere
Her reporting on the flood won a national prize.
Good reporting depends on checking facts with several sources.
The newspaper is known for its fearless reporting.
noununcountablebusiness
The process of giving formal information about results, progress or problems to a manager, authority or the public.
Grammar: Often used before another noun: reporting requirements, reporting line.
Patterns
- reporting to someone
- reporting requirements
Monthly reporting takes the finance team several days.
New rules demand stricter reporting of safety problems.
Her reporting line goes straight to the director.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Present participle of report: telling someone about something, or presenting yourself for duty.
Grammar: Takes an object when naming what is told: reporting a theft.
Patterns
- reporting something to someone
- reporting for duty
He is reporting the problem to the landlord.
The officer is reporting for duty at six.
She is reporting live from the stadium.
Common combinations
- investigative reporting
- Investigative reporting exposed the scandal.
- accurate reporting
- Accurate reporting builds trust with readers.
- financial reporting
- Financial reporting must follow strict rules.
- media reporting
- Media reporting of the event differed widely.
- reporting requirement
- Every school has a reporting requirement for accidents.
Synonyms and how they differ
- journalism
- Journalism is the whole profession of news, while reporting is the specific work of gathering and presenting facts.
- coverage
- Coverage describes how much attention a media outlet gives an event, rather than the work itself.
- news writing
- News writing refers to the style of text, while reporting includes the research behind it.
- documentation
- Documentation stresses written records kept for the future, while reporting stresses passing information to someone.
Opposites
Word family
- report verb
- to tell or describe
- report noun
- a spoken or written account
- reporter noun
- a person who reports news
- reportedly adverb
- according to what has been said
- misreport verb
- to report wrongly
Commonly confused: reporting or reportage?
reporting vs reportage
Reportage is a more literary word for journalistic writing as a style, while reporting is the ordinary word for the work.
Practice
Her careful ____ on the town council led to a change in the law.
Choose one answer.
Reporting is the noun for the work of gathering and publishing facts. Reporter is a person, so it needs an or the and does not fit after careful here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “reporting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.