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Why we can say:

TV reporter

but we can't say:

reporter of TV

This complex word is wrong in terms of lexis, meaning, or it's just ungrammatical?

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  • Not sure what you mean by mistake? But it is certainly possible to say "a reporter on TV" which is the same as a "TV reporter"
    – Peter
    Commented Mar 2, 2016 at 5:48

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The problem is with the "of".

Reporter of TV would be someone who reports about television. A TV reporter is a reporter who appears on TV.

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What I mean is a TV is a thing so we don't use "of TV" but "on TV" instead. As Nathan pointed out, you can make a thing possess something but it has to have an " 's".

"Online journalist" is another example - you would say "a journalist online" and not "a journalist of online."

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    "Who's that car's owner?" is perfectly reasonable. (And "online journalist" is not a problem either.)
    – Nathan Tuggy
    Commented Mar 2, 2016 at 6:47
  • I don't mean online journalist is a problem but was simply giving another example like "A tv reporter."
    – Aziz
    Commented Mar 2, 2016 at 6:50
  • But you have to say a journalist online and not journalist of online. I'll edit my wording.
    – Aziz
    Commented Mar 2, 2016 at 6:51

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