Reportage is the telling of what happened — in newspapers, on television, or on the radio. The word points at the describing itself, not at one short news piece. It can also mean a style: close, factual telling of events, sometimes with pictures, as if you were there. It sounds a little French and a little formal. At the dinner table people say “the news” or “reporting.” Journalists, reviewers, and teachers of writing use reportage. Though actually, in some books it means a longer, almost story-like kind of news writing, not just today’s headlines. You can talk about her reportage from a war or a flood, meaning the body of that work. It is not a word for a school report or a report you send to a boss.