The new contract the Associated Press is forcing upon its non-staff photographers - commonly known as stringers - is incredibly unfair. The cost of the expensive equipment of a professional photographer - cameras, film, developing and processing equipment, etc. - is, under the new contract, to be covered entirely by the photographer. In essence, each individual photographer is expected to have the equipment, chemicals and computer resources of an entire newspaper just to do their job. In addition, the AP claims the right to all of the stringers' photos and negatives once they are sold. These unworkable demands of the Associated Press have led AP stringers to strike.
Yet it is because the Associated Press has a monopoly on wire services that newspapers nationwide cannot take action in supporting the striking AP stringers. The nation's newspapers are dependent upon the valuable news feed and could not maintain the same level of quality and breadth of coverage if a boycott of the wire service was initiated. But this type of unethical behavior is not characteristic of the organization. The AP provides an invaluable service to the nation's newspapers, one that cannot be underestimated. For better or for worse, newspapers rely on the service's news and photo wires. But because it is one of the few sources for news and photos that so many publications need to stay afloat, the AP is, in many ways, free to behave in any manner it desires without fear of retaliation from the newspapers of the nation.
The stringer strike, forced by the unfair practices of the misguided Associated Press' management, will inevitably have a negative impact on journalism nationwide. AP photos and wire articles appear in newspapers every day, and while there will inevitably be college students and new photographers willing to sacrifice their principles and their colleagues for the opportunity to gain valuable experience working for the AP, the years of experience that the striking photographers possess cannot be replaced. The workers hired to replace the striking workers will be young and relatively inexperienced photographers for whom this strike will be a great opportunity and who will be willing to work for a smaller salary than more experienced workers would demand. But the striking stringers, who may have families to support and mortgages to pay off, cannot afford this new contract. The Associated Press should reform its newly monopolistic corporate practices and revise the stringers' contract so that employment can be mutually beneficial.