Like anyone at any job, every journalist faces the same basic set of challenges every day. For the journalist, there are six of these fundamental problems. They are: 1. Finding a Story – The reporter’s job is to uncover stories, preferably ones that the competition is missing. Most reporters must meet an unwritten quota of stories within a given period. At a daily newspaper, the reporter may be required to turn in one 800-word story, plus a handful of briefs, every day. At a business journal.