There are lots of textbooks on writing reportages in the so-called practitioners’ literature. Whether and how the classifications and instructions are in line with professional practice is rarely explored. In order to compare the recommendations of reportage textbooks with the views of reporters, we conducted a survey and used a multistep methods design: The first step was to identify the complete German-language reportage instructions literature. In the second step, the key statements about fundamental questions of narrative reportage were extracted from selected titles. Finally, these key statements were presented to reporters in a survey. The study focused in particular on the question of the professional relevance of formal and functional report definitions and on the question of standard dramaturgical patterns in reportage narratives. In summary, there’s a broad consensus in the profession with regard to the form and the standards of reportage narratives.