AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists?

Task-level automation exposure for News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists: 30 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

E-E-A-T Verified

Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

58% weighted task index

30 of 30 tasks scored

Median Salary

$62,200 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Medium

39,250 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-5.9% employment change

3,400 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 49 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$35,280 – $105,390

Highest medians

District of Columbia $105,390

New York $100,770

Georgia $81,910

Nevada $78,550

Rhode Island $74,570

Lowest medians

West Virginia $35,280

Wyoming $36,040

Arkansas $37,450

Nebraska $40,420

Arizona $43,100

State figures come from the 27-3023 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 58%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 10%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 40%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 10%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 3/100 Low

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

30 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 45%

13 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 39%

12 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 17%

5 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#22634 · Core · 50% automatable

Report news stories for publication or broadcast, describing the background and details of events.

text generation — News drafting assisted; reporting and delivery human

Report news to the public.

#22630 · Core · 45% automatable

Gather information and develop perspectives about news subjects through research, interviews, observation, and experience.

interpersonal — Reporting needs interviews, sources, field presence

Gather information for news stories.

#22628 · Core · 45% automatable

Research a story's background information to provide complete and accurate information.

interpersonal — Reporting needs interviews, sources, field presence

Gather information for news stories.

#22629 · Core · 45% automatable

Arrange interviews with people who can provide information about a story.

decision support — AI aids logistics planning; on-site event execution human

Coordinate logistics for productions or events.

#22633 · Core · 25% automatable

Establish and maintain relationships with individuals who are credible sources of information.

interpersonal — Professional networking depends on human relationship capital

Develop professional relationships or networks.

#22637 · Core · 45% automatable

Investigate breaking news developments, such as disasters, crimes, or human-interest stories.

interpersonal — Reporting needs interviews, sources, field presence

Gather information for news stories.

#22631 · Core · 72% automatable

Select material most pertinent to presentation, and organize this material into appropriate formats.

text generation — Content selection aided; audience judgment human

Determine presentation subjects or content.

#22639 · Core · 48% automatable

Report on specialized fields such as medicine, green technology, environmental issues, science, politics, sports, arts, consumer affairs, business, religion, crime, or education.

text generation — News drafting assisted; reporting and delivery human

Gather information for news stories. Report news to the public.

#22636 · Core · 82% automatable

Review and evaluate notes taken about news events to isolate pertinent facts and details.

information retrieval — News analysis well within LLM capability

Analyze information obtained from news sources.

#22627 · Core · 82% automatable

Receive assignments or evaluate leads or tips to develop story ideas.

information retrieval — News analysis well within LLM capability

Analyze information obtained from news sources.

#22642 · Core · 45% automatable

Check reference materials, such as books, news files, or public records, to obtain relevant facts.

interpersonal — Reporting needs interviews, sources, field presence

Gather information for news stories.

#22640 · Core · 72% automatable

Determine a published or broadcasted story's emphasis, length, and format, organizing material accordingly.

text generation — Content selection aided; audience judgment human

Determine presentation subjects or content.

#22625 · Core · 72% automatable

Examine news items of local, national, and international significance to determine topics to address, or obtain assignments from editorial staff members.

text generation — Content selection aided; audience judgment human

Determine presentation subjects or content.

#22646 · Core · 32% automatable

Take pictures or video, and process them for inclusion in a story.

interpersonal — Reporting needs interviews, sources, field presence

Gather information for news stories. Operate still or video cameras or related equipment.

#22638 · Core · 82% automatable

Review written, audio, or video copy, and correct errors in content, grammar, or punctuation, following prescribed editorial style and formatting guidelines.

text generation — AI edits prose well; human owns voice and final judgment

Edit written materials.

#22623 · Core · 85% automatable

Write commentaries, columns, or scripts, using computers.

text generation — Write informational material from brief

Write informational material.

#22626 · Core · 82% automatable

Analyze and interpret news and information received from various sources to broadcast the information.

information retrieval — News analysis well within LLM capability

Analyze information obtained from news sources.

#22647 · Core · 25% automatable

Conduct taped or filmed interviews or narratives.

interpersonal — Journalistic interviewing requires human presence

Interview others for news or entertainment purposes.

#22635 · Core · 82% automatable

Revise work to meet editorial approval or to fit time or space requirements.

text generation — AI edits prose well; human owns voice and final judgment

Edit written materials.

#22648 · Core · 82% automatable

Develop ideas or material for columns or commentaries by analyzing and interpreting news, current issues, or personal experiences.

information retrieval — AI tracks trends across sources continuously

Monitor current trends.

#22641 · Core · 25% automatable

Transmit news stories or reporting information from remote locations, using equipment such as satellite phones, telephones, fax machines, or modems.

physical manipulation — Broadcast equipment operation is hands-on hardware work

Operate communications, transmissions, or broadcasting equipment.

#22643 · Core · 55% automatable

Discuss issues with editors to establish priorities or positions.

interpersonal — Coordinating editors needs human scheduling and persuasion

Coordinate reporting or editing activities.

#22649 · Core · 72% automatable

Communicate with readers, viewers, advertisers, or the general public via mail, email, or telephone.

text generation — Written correspondence to customers is largely automatable

Correspond with customers to answer questions or resolve complaints.

#22644 · Core · 18% automatable

Photograph or videotape news events.

physical manipulation — Camera operation requires physical framing and handling

Operate still or video cameras or related equipment.

#22650 · Core · 85% automatable

Write online blog entries that address news developments or offer additional information, opinions, or commentary on news events.

text generation — Write informational material from brief

Write informational material.

#22652 · Core · 85% automatable

Write columns, editorials, commentaries, or reviews that interpret events or offer opinions.

text generation — Write informational material from brief

Write informational material.

#22645 · Supplemental · 45% automatable

Present live or recorded commentary via broadcast media.

interpersonal — Informing audiences is live presence and persuasion

Inform viewers, listeners, or audiences.

#22624 · Supplemental · 53% automatable

Coordinate and serve as an anchor on news broadcast programs.

interpersonal — Coordinating editors needs human scheduling and persuasion

Report news to the public. Coordinate reporting or editing activities.

#22632 · Supplemental · 50% automatable

Present news stories, and introduce in-depth videotaped segments or live transmissions from on-the-scene reporters.

text generation — News drafting assisted; reporting and delivery human

Report news to the public.

#22651 · Supplemental · 55% automatable

Assign stories to other reporters or duties to production staff.

interpersonal — Coordinating editors needs human scheduling and persuasion

Coordinate reporting or editing activities.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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