Also called: Freelance Correspondent, Local Stringer
Covers local events for newspapers and TV stations as a freelancer, paid per story or photo.
A stringer covers a late city council meeting, files a story by 11 p.m., and grabs photos of a house fire the next morning. Pay comes story by story, so many are students or part-timers.
Approximate; per-story pay.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
No formal education, about 0 years after high school. Writing skills; often students or early-career journalists.
Ways in: Self-taught, 4-year college. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Journalism.
Shrinking. Local news is shrinking.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. Outlets shrink and AI covers routine local items, cutting freelance pay; on-scene photos and video stay human.
Age 16+. One way to start: Pitch a short local event story or photos to your town paper or local news site; many pay per piece
Classes: Journalism, Photography, English, Film/video production CTE.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-3023.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.