News photographers on the way out
Apr 18, 2016 12:26:08 #
An Atlanta TV station offered buyouts to their on-air personalities. The reason is these talking heads needed a photographer when they were out doing stories. The on-air people who they are keeping all do their own photography. I have seen one of these do a shot of himself using a DSLR with a mounted light. I could not get close enough to see brands. So those of you who are very pretty and have a degree in journalism start practicing.
Apr 18, 2016 12:34:51 #
jrb1213 wrote:
An Atlanta TV station offered buyouts to their on-air personalities. The reason is these talking heads needed a photographer when they were out doing stories. The on-air people who they are keeping all do their own photography. I have seen one of these do a shot of himself using a DSLR with a mounted light. I could not get close enough to see brands. So those of you who are very pretty and have a degree in journalism start practicing.
????
Apr 18, 2016 13:18:44 #
jrb1213 wrote:
An Atlanta TV station offered buyouts to their on-air personalities. The reason is these talking heads needed a photographer when they were out doing stories. The on-air people who they are keeping all do their own photography. I have seen one of these do a shot of himself using a DSLR with a mounted light. I could not get close enough to see brands. So those of you who are very pretty and have a degree in journalism start practicing.
I'm not sure what you are trying to say... your thoughts seem to be a bit jumbled.
Apr 18, 2016 13:27:14 #
speters wrote:
????
To get a job as an on air reporter you have to carry, setup and record your own field reporting. No longer a photographer travelling with the on air reporter to record them in the field. In the studio most of the cameras are computer controlled robots with preset locations and no photographer anywhere near. Now when on location they don't want to send another person to record the reporter.
Apr 18, 2016 16:08:15 #
jrb1213 wrote:
To get a job as an on air reporter you have to carry, setup and record your own field reporting. No longer a photographer travelling with the on air reporter to record them in the field. In the studio most of the cameras are computer controlled robots with preset locations and no photographer anywhere near. Now when on location they don't want to send another person to record the reporter.
You said this happened at one station. Do you have any evidence that this is an industry wide trend?
Apr 18, 2016 18:30:26 #
Apr 18, 2016 20:36:58 #
Apr 18, 2016 20:55:01 #
In Portland, they still use photographers who tote the large tripod-mounted cameras. They are not DSLRs. I have seen the reporters helping carry gear.
Apr 18, 2016 20:59:44 #
That's a shame. Reporters need to concentrate on getting information, and don't have time to deal with visuals. Photogs don't have time to gather info as they're looking to illustrate the story. Awful move.
Apr 18, 2016 21:16:00 #
jrb1213 wrote:
An Atlanta TV station offered buyouts to their on-air personalities. The reason is these talking heads needed a photographer when they were out doing stories. The on-air people who they are keeping all do their own photography. I have seen one of these do a shot of himself using a DSLR with a mounted light. I could not get close enough to see brands. So those of you who are very pretty and have a degree in journalism start practicing.
I recently came across one of our local Myrtle Beach tv reporters setting up her tripod and video camera in a shopping center parking lot. When I exited the grocery store, I saw she was interviewing shoppers about something and she was filming herself doing the interviews.
But we are a very much smaller market than Atlanta.
Apr 19, 2016 06:24:07 #
jrb1213 wrote:
An Atlanta TV station offered buyouts to their on-air personalities. The reason is these talking heads needed a photographer when they were out doing stories. The on-air people who they are keeping all do their own photography. I have seen one of these do a shot of himself using a DSLR with a mounted light. I could not get close enough to see brands. So those of you who are very pretty and have a degree in journalism start practicing.
Yes, it's a sad situation. I've seen local TV reporters out on their own with a tripod, camera, and mic. Many stations, newspapers, and magazines have virtually eliminated their photography departments. They rely on submissions by the public or a couple of freelance shooters.
On a related note, more than once, TV news crews have been robbed on the site and had thousands of dollars worth of gear stolen.
Apr 19, 2016 07:35:19 #
Some related news. Our local newspaper has gone from 200 employees to just 39.
Apr 19, 2016 08:10:54 #
jrb1213 wrote:
An Atlanta TV station offered buyouts to their on-air personalities. The reason is these talking heads needed a photographer when they were out doing stories. The on-air people who they are keeping all do their own photography. I have seen one of these do a shot of himself using a DSLR with a mounted light. I could not get close enough to see brands. So those of you who are very pretty and have a degree in journalism start practicing.
They have been doing that for several years here in my area.....newscaster having to setup camera, operate by remote, do the news report, sometimes it makes for an interesting report.... :D
Apr 19, 2016 08:12:37 #
jrb1213 wrote:
An Atlanta TV station offered buyouts to their on-air personalities. The reason is these talking heads needed a photographer when they were out doing stories. The on-air people who they are keeping all do their own photography. I have seen one of these do a shot of himself using a DSLR with a mounted light. I could not get close enough to see brands. So those of you who are very pretty and have a degree in journalism start practicing.
Its conceivable that at some point in the future TV personalities will be computer generated and not real people. Matrix here we come. :D
Apr 19, 2016 08:31:56 #
jrb1213 wrote:
An Atlanta TV station offered buyouts to their on-air personalities. The reason is these talking heads needed a photographer when they were out doing stories. The on-air people who they are keeping all do their own photography. I have seen one of these do a shot of himself using a DSLR with a mounted light. I could not get close enough to see brands. So those of you who are very pretty and have a degree in journalism start practicing.
Many different rigs can be used to do this. The equipment isn't particularly important... The reasons why stations are doing it ARE important:
Budgets --- As the democratization of news sources via the Internet reduces the size of audiences and advertising revenue, stations have to reduce staff. Newspapers such as the Chicago Sun Times shed their photography staffs several years ago for the same reason.
Control --- One WELL TRAINED PHOTOJOURNALIST can produce a more tightly coherent story than a mediocre trio of talking head, producer/writer, and videographer.
Yes, that takes some skills, training, and experience, but when it works (with the RIGHT photojournalist) the payoff is huge in terms of efficiency and story quality.
I'm "sort of" one of those people. In high school, I took every English and journalism class in sight, and minored in English in college. I was a yearbook photojournalist and newspaper editor throughout high school, and managed operations at a campus FM radio station in college. I spent almost two years producing radio commercials, remote, news, and studio broadcasts. Then I parlayed all of that experience into a job producing multi-image AV shows and corporate training/promotions videos. That led to a lot of other roles, ending in a seven-year training gig.
I was a one-man band, at first. I did the business case analysis to support the need for the show... Got the project chartered... Wrote the outline... Scripted the show... Created storyboards and scene lists... Did the photography... Narrated the script... Edited the slides or tape... Programmed the multi-image computer... Assembled the sound track... Staged big shows at conventions...
Because my shows were molded and crafted from one vision (yet obviously approved by others, since my employer was my "customer" ), they were tightly coherent, highly targeted to specific needs, and made sense to the audience. I photographed directly for what I wrote, to ground the story in visual concrete. I wrote for MY voice, and narrated my scripts and stories for just the right emphasis, inflection, and tone that I intended the viewer to hear..
The knowledge to do all that is built over time. No doubt the quality of anyone's early efforts to be a one-person photojournalist will be a learning experience, but a good in-house mentor as a producer/editor can quickly shape up a recent J-school grad's skills.
The age of specialization isn't necessarily over, but specialization isn't nearly as important or even desirable as it once was. The convergence technologies (audio, video, photography, typography, computers, and mobile Internet telecommunications) have put it all in a smartphone... We're all potentially able to become "Swiss Army Knives" in our roles, if we choose to be.
One more thought The one-person photojournalist role seems to work best for feature stories, where the storyteller can take the time to research, write, and photograph from that script, performing all the roles in sequence. News stories are a little more difficult, unless handled as a "stand-up talking head" scene.
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