To determine if visual excellence in television news is related to photographers' professionalism, a six-page questionnaire was mailed to 438 full-time news photographers asking them about the working conditions at their shops, their opinions about television news, and their rating of professionalism scales. For comparison, a purposive sample was constructed of 70 additional photographers who worked at stations that had received the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) News Photography Station of the Year Award or who had themselves been selected as NPPA Regional News Photographer of the Year during the last five years. Responses indicated that television news photographers in general rate themselves about the same as newspaper photographers and television journalists on scales measuring professionalism, but there was little relation between achieving a high score on a professionalism index and winning awards for television news photography. Like those who score highly on a professionalism index, award-winning news photographers value the autonomy to do the job the way they want. Unlike high-scoring professionals, they tend not to criticize the station they work for, and show little interest in the potential of their work to influence public opinion. Both award-winning and other photographers show idealism about what television news should be. The study concluded that the achievement of visual excellence is more the application of good craft than a reflection of professional values. Footnotes and tables are appended. (HOD)