"The Reporter" is the third episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 23, 2009. The episode was written by Daniel J. Goor and directed by Jeffrey Blitz. In the episode, Leslie enlists a local reporter to write an article about the park, but the interviews go poorly, and the problem escalates after Mark gets romantically involved with the journalist.

The episode featured actress and comedian Alison Becker in a guest appearance as Pawnee Journal reporter Shauna Malwae-Tweep. "The Reporter" received generally mixed reviews, with some commentators still comparing it unfavorably to The Office, another comedy series created by the Parks and Recreations co-creators.

According to Nielsen Media Research, it was watched by 5.23 million households in its original airing, continuing a downward trend in ratings since the pilot episode. "The Reporter" and the rest of the first season of Parks and Recreation was released on DVD in the United States on September 8, 2009.

Leslie announces she has invited a reporter from the local Pawnee Journal newspaper to write a story about the construction pit that she plans to turn into a park. Leslie meticulously prepares for the interview, instructing the members of her subcommittee to "stay on message." Over lunch with Mark Brendanawicz, Leslie seeks advice on how to deal with the press. Leslie once again tells the documentary crew like she did in the pilot that she previously had sex with Mark and seems to still harbor feelings for him. The reporter, Shauna Malwae-Tweep arrives the next day to interview Leslie, along with Ann and Andy. During the interview, Andy reveals he was drunk when he fell in the pit, much to the horror of Leslie and Ann, who were not previously aware of it.

Leslie calls Mark for assistance in dealing with the reporter and Mark, seemingly attracted to Shauna, ends up leaving the parks department office with her. The next morning, Leslie waits at the pit for an interview with Shauna. Leslie is surprised when Mark drops Shauna off at the site and, when she sees Shauna is wearing the same dress as the previous day, she realizes Mark and Shauna have had sex. Leslie is standoffish and irritable during the interview, and she later confronts Mark, who says that it is a private matter and tells Leslie she is acting like a "huge dork." When Leslie says she cannot have this type of behavior from members of her subcommittee, Mark resigns from the committee. Leslie asks for another interview with Shauna, attributing her behavior during their last interview due to food poisoning from a burrito. During the interview, Shauna reads a number of quotes claiming the park will never be built, and that the existence of unicorns, leprechauns and talking monkeys are more likely. Leslie is disappointed to learn that Mark was quoted as saying "this park is never, ever, ever, ever going to happen".

Later, Ann tells Mark about the upcoming story and the negative quote, which Mark thought was off the record. The two confront Shauna and ask her not to use the quotes. Shauna says that she will not use the quotes since the two are "romantically involved," but when Mark disputes the idea that they are romantically involved, Shauna appears visibly annoyed. Later, Mark apologizes to Leslie and asks to be reinstated to the committee, to which Leslie happily agrees. Later, Leslie reads the story, which is not entirely positive, but her enthusiasm remains strong. In a B story, Tom deliberately loses at online Scrabble against his boss Ron, and is horrified when he finds intern April sitting at his desk playing several high point words against Ron. Tom insists to Ron that he is the "Scrabble king." Ron later reveals he knows Tom loses on purpose, but doesn't mind because Tom is his idea of a model government employee: unproductive, lacking initiative and a poor team player.

"The Reporter" was written by Daniel J. Goor and directed by Jeffrey Blitz. Blitz previously directed episodes of The Office, a comedy series created by Parks and Recreation co-creator Greg Daniels. Michael Schur, who created Parks along with Daniels, said of Blitz, "He's such a great director, and it made us feel, launching this new show, safe and happy to have him." It was originally supposed to be the second episode shown in the series, but the broadcast schedule was changed and "Canvassing," the original third episode, was shown second instead. Goor was very upset with the switch so, as a prank, the Parks and Recreation producers sent him an e-mail message claiming NBC was going to be further held until the second season because it was preempted by "a sports thing."

The episode was filmed only two weeks after filming wrapped on the pilot episode, which Schur said he regretted because, "Normally, you'd like to have the usual three months or so to sit back, look at what you made, draw conclusions, tinker, and rewrite." During "The Reporter," Parks and Recreation editor Dean Holland developed an editing technique that would be used throughout the rest of the series. During the scene in which Leslie reacts to quotes read to her by the reporter, Amy Poehler improvised a number of jokes, many of which were not going to be used. Holland thought they were all funny, so he created a brief montage inter-cutting several of the lines into the same scene.