People and roles
Stringer
Also: stringing
A freelance reporter who files stories to a publication from a particular place or beat, paid per piece rather than on staff.
A stringer is a paper's eyes in a town or a field where it has no staff reporter. You might string for a metro daily from a regional centre, filing when news breaks. It is how a lot of journalists start and how a lot of regional news still gets covered. Simon's factsheet on stringing explains how to set one up.