Photojournalism

Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, and in some cases to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such as documentary photography, street photography or celebrity photography) by the qualities of:

The impact of new technologies

Smaller, lighter cameras greatly enhanced the role of the photojournalist. Since the 1960s, motor drives, electronic flash, auto-focus, better lenses and other camera enhancements have made picture taking easier. New digital cameras free photojournalists from the limitation of film roll length, as thousands of images can be stored on a single microdrive or memory card.

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Content remains the most important element of photojournalism, but the ability to extend deadlines with rapid gathering and editing of images has brought significant changes. As recently as 15 years ago, nearly 30 minutes were needed to scan and transmit a single color photograph from a remote location to a news office for printing. Now, equipped with a digital camera, a mobile phone and a laptop computer, a photojournalist can send a high-quality image in minutes, even seconds after an event occurs. Video phones and portable satellite links increasingly allow for the mobile transmission of images from almost any point on the earth.

Related Topics:
Mobile phone - Laptop - Video phones - Satellite

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There is some concern by news photographers that the profession of photojournalism as it is known today could change to such a degree that it is unrecognizable as image-capturing technology naturally progresses. There is also concern that fewer print publications are commissioning serious photojournalism on timely issues.

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Another concern is the concept of media convergence, or the merger of news media businesses of different mediums. Such instances could put a print photojournalist side-by-side with a broadcast or video photojournalist. Such is the case at The Tampa Tribune in Florida, which shares its newsroom with TBO.com and WFLA-TV. There is increasing pressure in the industry to re-train all journalists in a wide variety of mediums, which may one day include training many still photojournalists with video. Video adds a new dynamic of movement and sound, foreign concepts to photojournalists trained to capture moments frozen in time.

Related Topics:
Media convergence - The Tampa Tribune

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