We all know what journalists are doing. But today we offer to understand one of the areas of this profession by answering the question: “Stringer - who is it?” After all, this concept is not familiar to everyone, although we observe the fruits of the work of these journalists almost daily, both on television and in the print media.
Stringer - who is it?
Representatives of this profession are independent or freelance reporters. First of all, stringers mean people who provide the media with visual materials, that is, cameramen and photojournalists. However, representatives of this profession can also be radio, television or writing journalists who cover certain events or take interviews. In addition, answering the question: “Stringer - who is this?”, It should be understood that, for the most part, these people work in difficult conditions. So, most often they cover extreme events: wars, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, etc. The name of the profession comes from this, because in translation from English “stringer” means “string, bowstring”.
Profession Features
In the media it is believed that the journalist-stringer is a true professional in his field, who is able to perfectly cope with any work entrusted to him, for which he receives very good money. All other freelance reporters are often considered regular freelancers. So, for example, a stringer can be sent with a task to some hot spot where military operations are being conducted. And if a regular freelancer may for some reason delay the report or be late with the photos or text necessary for the employer, then the stringer will never allow such a situation. In this regard, such reporters are considered a kind of journalism elite.
Professional qualities of a stringer
In order to make a career in this direction, a journalist must possess many personal qualities. By the way, such characteristics help stringers not only do their job, but often survive in extreme situations. So, we bring to your attention the main qualities of the stringer: independence, courage, a high level of professional training, creativity, developed intuition and reporter instinct, good physical form and endurance, strong character, strong-willed qualities, ability to control oneself in different situations, endurance, perseverance, patience , efficiency, resistance to stress and wide outlook.
Medical contraindications
Since the stringer is a very dangerous profession and associated with mental and physical overwork, there are a number of medical contraindications for people who want to pursue a career in this direction. These include the following:
- the presence of nervous and mental diseases;
- violations in the musculoskeletal system;
- diseases associated with the respiratory or cardiovascular system;
- impaired vision and hearing;
- the presence of chronic infectious diseases.
What should a stringer know?
A journalist planning to work as a stringer should have a number of special knowledge and skills. These include the following: the ability to navigate the terrain, skills in handling professional equipment (both used by reporters in work and used in natural disasters and military operations).
How to become a stringer?
There are no special institutions that train specialists in this profession. As a rule, most stringers are graduates of journalism departments, who subsequently improve their skills and begin to work as freelance reporters in hot spots.
So, today we learned about what the word stringer means, who it is and what it does. We hope that this information will be useful to you when choosing a profession.