Some experienced print photographers are too dismissive of video and multimedia opportunities, a veteran visual journalist told me in an email.
The journalist messaged me privately after my post last week about the Chicago Sun-Times firing its whole photo staff. I asked the journalist if I could use the email in a blog post. We agreed I would use it but not identify the sender, who did not want to offend colleagues (so I have edited lightly to take out identifying information):
As a former staff photographer now working mostly in video, I surely empathize with the staffers who were let go, I also understand, but don’t agree with the business model that’s playing out at the Sun-Times.
While I agree that photojournalists are in fact the best-equipped members on staff to assume a visual leadership role for video, I’ve also witnessed first-hand a reluctance by newspaper staff photographers to take ownership of all things video.
Too often I’ve heard videographers referred to as camera pointers by still photographers. I’ve witnessed staff photographers operate with reckless abandon as reporter/videographers try and record natural sound or a quality A-roll interview. Until photographers develop a full respect for the medium, they can never assume the leadership role that many feel entitled to.
Photographers shouldn’t just assume they are the best-equipped to carry the torch, that torch has to be earned. Fact is, there’s much more involved to producing quality video than just best photography practices. Often, reporters are better equipped for conducting the subject interviews and are also better at identifying the storyline and doing on-camera stand-ups.
My advice to photographers would be not to act entitled but rather respect and embrace the changes that are happening in our industry. The role of a – visual journalist is to work seamlessly as a functioning member of The Team, not a lone wolf or fly on the wall whose sole mission is to get the shot for A1 or post a random photo gallery.
Instead of asking what time should I arrive on scene to get the best photograph, visual journalists should be acting as integral part of the entire story process. Does the story warrant a reporter stand-up? What kind of mic approach is necessary? Got proper exposure and white balance? It may be easy to color-correct a single still image but not so much an entire video.
Is the story going to be driven by natural sound, a character, reporter, or a combination of all three. What’s the best way to keep the story moving visually? What’s the beginning, middle, and end. Reverse storytelling? Is a slideshow the best way to capture the story?
I think a major change is needed in our approach to visuals. I believe video should be the main responsibility of photographers when possible. While I understand the necessity of having reporters shoot a lot of their own videos, I believe today’s technology provides photographers with the ability to do both under most circumstances. For example, I regularly use frame grabs from video out of a high-quality progressive scan HD DSLR Canon camera to run as still photos in the paper.
As a visual journalist who’s endured over 20 years of constant change, I regularly think video first and still photos second, often through frame grabs. In my opinion, this is undoubtedly the direction things are headed. A team approach is definitely the best approach!
I appreciate the input from someone who clearly understands both the value of visual content and the urgency of change. I don’t know whether resistance to change or a failure to change fast enough contributed to the decision at the Sun-Times. But I think every journalist, whether specializing in words or images, needs to work on building new skills. We all need to be constantly expanding and proving our value.
“…I regularly think video first and still photos second, often through frame grabs.”
Prioritizing video over stills doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The internet has a voracious appetite for still pictures, as they are what have driven the success of sites like Facebook and Instagram. Photos and photo galleries drive a lot of traffic on newspaper websites. Even video-native TV stations are now producing photo galleries for their websites.
Also, let’s not forget that printed newspapers still have a significant audience, if declining, and a very profitable business model. Selling that product short when it comes to still photography isn’t going to help keep an audience.
For years now some journalists have been saying that this video-first approach is “undoubtedly the direction things are headed.” But the demand for great still photography is still strong. People still engage deeply with great photography. This fact shouldn’t be ignored.
I think the reality is these are two different mediums and each definitely has a place at the digital news table. Both deserve a thoughtful approach. I think it’s a mistake to relegate stills to an afterthought in the newsroom.
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Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Joe. You make your points about the digital appeal of still photos well. But you overstate about the print business model. Print advertising revenue has declined 60 percent since 2005. Newspapers remain profitable only through cost-cutting and growth of digital revenue.
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Steve,
A 60% decline in advertising over 8 years is huge, for sure, but that doesn’t mean the printed product doesn’t have a significant audience or turn a profit. Nor does it mean it should be neglected. It’s how millions of people each day still choose to get their news.
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It is a significant audience and a significant product. But it only turns a profit because of cost-cutting. I was responding to your description of a “very profitable business model.” While that may be technically true, it’s also a very unsustainable business model. Future prosperity clearly rests in developing a new business model. I believe engaging visual content — videos, slide shows, photo galleries, interactive multimedia — are all part of that business model and producing, gathering and curating that kind of visual content should be a high priority for newsrooms. And yes, while we still have print, we need to publish the best of those photos in print. But digital should be a higher priority than print.
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great post!
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As a budding journalist myself, I realize the importance of being able to “do it all.” It’s vital to be able to this day in age.
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I’ve been encouraging photographers to broaden their skill sets and take equal responsibility for a couple of decades now. But that requires the support of newsroom managers. With fewer photographers covering more assignments, the math tells you that they spend less time per assignment. It’s tough to be more deeply involved when you’re covering five or six assignments in a shift.
But there are ways to manage a newsroom to engage all editorial staffers more deeply into what was once called “the process.”
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I’ve experienced some of the resistance from still photographers that some are describing, both personally and through conversations with colleagues. I’m not quite buying your “guest’s” general characterization of what’s going on with many still photojournalists, though.
First, the decision NOT to identify your “veteran visual journalist” is, well, just a little cowardly, if you ask me. If this person is such a veteran and cares about what’s happening to colleagues, then he/she should stand up, identify him/herself, and sing it from the mountains! Be a leader, not a sniping critic in the shadows.
I would not deny that there might be a large degree of passive-aggressive resistance from still photographers in regard to video and the directions that many in news media management are pushing for. But it is not motivated by a sense of “entitlement,” in my opinion. I really, honestly believe it’s more a matter of conscience. It’s been my experience that most writers and word editors seem to have little idea about just how bad most of the video they are producing really is. Generally speaking, photographers, on the other hand, are painfully aware of what the results are likely to be when asked to produce video with inferior, amateur equipment while juggling still photography duties at the same time.
Honestly, I don’t think most photographers are afraid of making videos as much as they are afraid of making crappy, irrelevant videos like the majority of those being foisted on the public in the name of a “digital first” approach. I simply want to scream every time I see another talking head video on a newspaper website. Those types of videos are useless and disrespectful of our audiences’ time.
I think the still photograph is being woefully undervalued in the role it plays in communication – especially online. On the surface, it seems like such a simple thing. Simple to produce. Simple to appreciate. But no other medium of communication resonates like a still image. No other medium is capable of producing understanding and making emotional connections between a subject and an audience as quickly and profoundly as a still photograph. And despite being in the age of unethical digital manipulation, nothing else offers instant credibility to a story like an honest, powerful photograph does.
Photographs are still the front porch for the news. They are calling cards. The first invitation to be engaged by a variety of content. And the quality of the photographic content is an announcement to the audience about how serious we are about engaging them.
Those who actually practice photojournalism know full and well that producing photographs which resonate and inform and teach are HARD to produce on a consistent basis. It takes experience and persistence and commitment and unending practice. There is a craft and a process that needs to be learned, and not everyone has the aptitude to communicate effectively with visuals.
I think a large problem in many, many newsrooms is that photographers’ unending efforts to educate their word-plying brethren are perceived as resistance and bellyaching.
What a photojournalist does – determining what a story is, then deciding which parts of it are emotional and visual, then figuring out the best way to present it to an audience in a compelling way and anticipating what those storytelling moments might be before they even happen – in the field as stories unfold – is an uncommon gift and a unique way of thinking. It’s a talent that’s often recognized – you know it when you see it. But it’s a woefully under-appreciated talent, apparently. Great photography produces tremendously value, but it’s taken for granted by both news management and the public at large. You don’t miss it until it’s gone.
I understand the necessity of the “digital first” approach. But I’m not buying the “video first” approach. I have yet to see compelling evidence that “sophisticated” audiences seek out video over still photography when they need visual confirmation of conditions, events, and issues.
I’m not naive, though, and what happened at the Sun-Times should be a very instructive warning to photographers not willing to take the lead in producing quality video news content online.
Video is a powerful medium for storytelling, too. But newspapers trying to transition (and survive) in a digital world probably need to re-evaluate their approach to video. If newspapers, and entrepreneurial journalists, for that matter, really want to connect with new audiences using video online, then they need to RAISE the bar with visual storytelling instead of trying to copy TV style reporting on the cheap.
Your guest, more than once, emphasized the “teamwork” part of producing multimedia content. On that, I agree 100%. However, that is not what’s being fostered by the news industry. What’s being fostered are barebones newsrooms where everyone is expected to be a super-Renaissance, one-man/woman reporting team who’s a master of every medium. It’s folly. And that approach is doomed to failure, in the long run. Even if someone is gifted and lucky enough to possess the aptitude to master all of those different mediums, it is STILL physically impossible to juggle all of those newsgathering activities at the same time and produce quality work – on a consistent basis. The profession is suffering, and the public is noticing.
There’s no feeling of “entitlement” that comes with a reluctance to dumb down journalism to the point where it has little actual value to the average information-consuming citizen. Why in the world should advertisers, sponsors, or readers fork over any money for multimedia content that can be produced by Joe Blogger, or just about any citizen, for that matter?
At some point, curators and aggregators will have nothing to do but sift through work produced by amateurs and hobbyists and hope they can verify it’s authenticity and define its relevance to their audience. Is that the future of journalism?
How we will fund quality journalism in the future and convince the public of its necessity, well, that’s the REAL problem to be solved, in my opinion.
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[…] « Photojournalists need to embrace video skills and priorities […]
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Excellent post, skills upgradation is very much essential for every professional.
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[…] content is to hire professional visual journalists for your staff, pay them well, expect them to be versatile in producing still photographs, videos and interactive projects and hold them to high standards. But even if you do that, you need to seek photos and videos from […]
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