What is the connection between a reporter and a news desk?

Answer 1

News desk is a rather vague term, so here's how the process works in a nutshell:

Reporters get assignments from their superiors, whether it is an assignment editor or a section editor. The sports editor might say, "Write about LeBron James for tomorrow." Or whatever.

When the reporter is done writing, he submits to the copy desk. They look it over a few times, check for mistakes, make sure it fits the allocated space, and write a headline. It goes from there into the paper.

(In television news, the producer looks over the piece and decided where it goes on a newscast after checking for content. Others will watch it too.)