La periodista escribe un reportaje sobre el barrio.

Because periodista is one of those Spanish nouns that often keeps the same form for both men and women. The article shows the gender:

• la periodista = a female journalist
• el periodista = a male journalist

So in this sentence, la tells you the journalist is female.

In Spanish, you normally need an article with a specific singular noun like this.

• La periodista = the journalist

English sometimes drops articles in places where Spanish does not, but here Spanish requires la because we are talking about a specific journalist, not just the profession in general.

Escribe is the third-person singular present tense of escribir (to write).

It matches the subject la periodista, which is singular:

• yo escribo = I write
• tú escribes = you write
• él / ella escribe = he / she writes

So La periodista escribe means The journalist writes or The journalist is writing, depending on context.

Because Spanish often does not need a subject pronoun if the subject is already clear.

Here, the subject is explicitly stated as la periodista, so adding ella would usually be unnecessary. Spanish commonly avoids repeating subject pronouns unless there is emphasis or contrast.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Spanish often uses the simple present where English might use either:

• writes
• is writing

So La periodista escribe un reportaje sobre el barrio could mean:

• The journalist writes a report about the neighborhood
• The journalist is writing a report about the neighborhood

If you want to strongly emphasize the action is happening right now, Spanish can also say:

• La periodista está escribiendo un reportaje sobre el barrio.

Because reportaje is a masculine noun in Spanish, so it takes un in the singular:

• un reportaje
• el reportaje

Even though it ends in -e, that does not automatically make it feminine. Noun gender has to be learned word by word.

Reportaje usually means a report, feature article, or news report, depending on context.

It is often a more developed piece of journalism than just a short news item. In many contexts, reportaje suggests a fuller, more in-depth article or report.

Here sobre means about.

So:

• un reportaje sobre el barrio = a report about the neighborhood

Be careful: sobre can also mean other things in other contexts, such as on, over, or above. But in this sentence, the meaning is clearly about.

Because barrio is a masculine noun, so it takes el:

• el barrio = the neighborhood / district

Here el barrio refers to a particular neighborhood that is known from the context.

Normally, no. In this sentence, barrio needs the article.

• sobre el barrio = correct
• sobre barrio = not natural here

Spanish uses articles more often than English, especially with ordinary countable nouns like barrio.

Because sobre el barrio describes what kind of report it is. It belongs naturally with un reportaje:

• un reportaje sobre el barrio = a report about the neighborhood

This word order is the most natural and neutral one. Spanish word order can sometimes change, but this version is the clearest and most standard.

Mostly yes. This sentence follows a very common pattern:

• Subject + verb + object/complement

So:

• La periodista = subject
• escribe = verb
• un reportaje sobre el barrio = object

That makes it straightforward for an English speaker, even though Spanish is often a bit more flexible with word order than English.