Stringer (journalism)

In journalism, a stringer is a type of freelance journalist who contributes reportage to a news organization on an on-going basis but is paid individually for each piece of published or broadcast work.

As freelancers, stringers do not receive a regular salary and the amount and type of work is typically voluntary. However, stringers have an ongoing relationship with one or more news organizations to provide content on particular topics or locations when the opportunities arise.

The term is typically confined to news industry jargon, and in print or in broadcast stringers are sometimes referred to as correspondents or contributors, while at other times they may not receive any public recognition for the work they contributed.

A reporter can "string" for a news organization in a number of different capacities and with varying degrees of regularity, and the relationship between the organization and the stringer is typically very loose. Larger news organizations often rely on stringers to quickly provide scene descriptions or quotes on breaking news stories when it would be difficult for a staff reporter to get to the locale. Stringers are heavily relied upon in this capacity by most television news organizations for video footage and interviews.

Etymology

The etymology of the word is uncertain. Newspapers once paid stringers per inch of printed text they generated, and one theory says the length of this text was measured against a string. The theory given in the Oxford English Dictionary is that a stringer is a person who strings words together, while others use the term because the reporter is "strung along" by a news organization, or kept in a constant state of uncertainty.

ee also

*Correspondent
*Parachute journalism
*Freelancer