Someone who gives opinions and does not go out and cover the news is a “commentator” rather than a journalist or a reporter. Actually, the terms “journalist” and “reporter” can be used interchangeably, although “journalist” tends to be the name of someone who is in the profession of journalism, whether as a reporter or a correspondent. It is often used for folks who work in print (newspapers and magazines)— you might see someone called a “print journalist.” Reporters, on the other hand, are often folks who work in TV news or radio news. But whether you use the more formal term (journalist) or not, journalists and/or reporters are trained professionals. They go out and gathers the facts, interview the relevant news-makers, often write the story, and then deliver it. Journalists and reporters are not folks who guess or speculate, nor are they overtly partisan. They are people who devote their energies to finding out what the story actually is and then informing the public in an accurate and fair manner.
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