Some publications, such as The Christian Science Monitor and The Economist, rely frequently on stringers for their foreign reports. The New York Times runs stringers' articles, but does not give them a byline. Leading wire services such the A. P. and Reuters rely on stringers' copy from countries in which they do not have full-time, staff correspondents. Financially strapped U.P.I. currently has more stringers abroad than staff correspondents. Reuters and the A. P. use as many free-lance photojournalists as salaried staff photographers in their foreign bureaus.
Television also buys footage from free-lance camera crews.
Of all the media, radio is the most dependent on free-lancers. The main reason the media rely so heavily on stringers is money. Meanwhile, as a rule, free-lancers must pay their own transportation and other expenses. And although stringers may be accredited with a major news organization and represent it in the field, they usually enjoy no benefits, such as health or life insurance. If, for example, a stringer is injured in a bus accident in a foreign country but not while pursuing an assigned report, it is unlikely that he or she would be covered.