(Journalism) What is a bureau cheif? A bureau?

Question

(In Journalism)

Example: Tim Russert was the NBC - Washington, DC bureau chief.

What is a bureau chief? What do they do? And what's a bureau?

Pardon my ignorance.

Answer 1

Newspaper coverage is usually based in the city served by the publication.  Most of the city coverage is broken down by subject -- courts, cops, city hall, education, sports, business, etc.

But the newspaper would also have satellite offices to cover geographic areas -- outlying towns and the state capital and perhaps the national capital.   These outside clusters of reporters are known as bureaus, and the daily operations are the responsibility of the bureau chief.

A very large newspaper might also have a few overseas bureaus, perhaps London and Tokyo, with a few reporters covering whatever pertains to the circulation area of the newspaper.

Hope this answer helps you, Christian.

Answer 2

Everything in the previous answer was correct.  The bureau chief would be the supervisor of the people who work in the bureau.  Most likely, he or she would assign stories to other reporters, check their work, and do some reporting themselves.