Stringer (journalism)

Etymology and use

In a journalistic context, the etymology of the word is uncertain. It is said that newspapers once paid such freelancer journalists per inch of printed text they generated, and that they used string to measure and bill their work. The theory given in the Oxford English Dictionary is that a stringer is a person who metaphorically strings words together.

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

A reporter or photographer can "string" for a news organization in a number of different capacities and with varying degrees of regularity, so that the relationship between the organization and the stringer is typically very loose. When it is difficult for a staff reporter or photographer to reach a location quickly for breaking news stories, larger news organizations often rely on local stringers to provide rapid scene descriptions, quotations or photos. In this capacity, stringers are used heavily by most television news organizations and some print publications for video footage, photos, and interviews.

Notable stringers

• Phil Donahue
• Horace Greeley
• Steven Koechner
• Ivy Lee
• Hunter S. Thompson
• Weegee
• Billy Wilder

Notable portrayals in media

• Peter Parker (Spider-Man) is depicted in comics, movies, and various other media as a stringer who captures and sells photographs of Spider-Man to the local news, most notably the Daily Bugle.
• Joe Pesci plays Leon Bernstein, a stringer for tabloids in New York, in The Public Eye (1992).
• Timothy Muskatell plays Eric Hayes, a stringer who discovers gruesome atrocities, in The Ghouls (2003).
• Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, a stringer, in Nightcrawler (2014).
• Henry Cavill plays Clark Kent (Superman), who is introduced to the staff of the Daily Planet by editor Perry White as their "new stringer", in Man of Steel (2013).
• The 2017 Netflix series, Shot in the Dark, follows a group of stringers in Los Angeles, California.

References

References

1. "Handbook of Journalism: Dealing with stringers". Reuters.
2. Kent, Ruth Kimball. (1971). "The Language of Journalism: A Glossary of Print-communications Terms". Kent State University Press.
3. Bank, David. (October 1991). "Be A Stringer See The World". American Journalism Review.
4. Sterling, Christopher H.. (2009-09-25). "Encyclopedia of journalism. 6. Appendices". SAGE.
5. Haynes, Mark. (December 12, 2011). "Utahn Steven Koecher's disappearance remains a mystery". [[Salt Lake Tribune]].
6. (August 7, 1997). "Hunter S. Thompson: 'Proud Highway' (audio)". NPR.
7. "William Kennedy Biography".
8. (August 20, 2019). "'Nightcrawler' Lawsuit: Judge Says There's Too Many Stringer Films For Copyright Claim".