“Saving Photojournalism” – comments from DigitalJournalist.org

The Digital Journalist

The following post was written as part of a thread on the subject of saving photojournalism, written by Dirck Halstead at http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0909/how-to-start-to-save-photojournalism.html.

I have come across many posts, blogs, and articles that point to internet advertising as the future for funding on-line content. I also read industry publications such as Ad Week, Advertising Age, and PR Week. From this broader perspective, it is apparent that on-line advertising is NOT an answer that can be depended upon for the future funding of anything unless you are bought in to one of the major on-line ad platforms (Google, for example).

There are many challenges. TV and print advertising is easier to target to a specific audience, especially if you are selling a product or service geared to a well defined target market. Day-time viewing, prime-time viewing, after school viewing, late night infomercials – it is a science that goes far deeper than many of us can imagine.
You may put a print ad in a magazine that is only purchased by your target market, like a Canon ad in PDN magazine for example. But now, let’s say, you put that same Canon ad in USA Today. Will you get the same results? No. USA Today is read by a much larger volume of readers, many of whom have absolutely zero interest in seeing the latest products from a camera manufacturer. This is similar to the challenge being faced by internet advertisers. Unless they advertise only on those sites that are geared toward a specific audience, then they are trying to sell to people who have zero interest in what they are offering. And the instant gratification, short attention span nature of the internet means that it is easier than ever to click past an ad that holds no interest for you. Technology certainly allows for Canon to only show ads on sites that are photography related. But the easy access to internet advertising by almost anybody with a connection to the web means that Canon is suddenly advertising in a much more crowded market. There are more ads for camera gear on the internet, competing for attention, than you would get in a print magazine.

The advertising industry has defined this issue as an important challenge to be resolved for the continued success of their own businesses – this is not something I just made up. So if advertisers are uncertain about the value of advertising on the internet (and there is plentiful data to support this concern), then we need to consider alternative revenue sources to support the work that we do, and want to do.

One model that was discussed in Advertising Age was very interesting, and quite compelling. If you are a cable TV subscriber, perhaps just signing up for the basic package, then you will have access to only a handful of channels, most of which are pretty pathetic. But if you upgrade to a different level, you get access to more channels, HBO, Starz, Bravo etc. Those channels get their cut of viewer subscriptions to help pay for their productions. Advertising Age suggested that a similar model be applied to internet service provider (ISP) subscriptions. I get access to the internet via Comcast. It’s OK. Sometimes faster than others – but it serves me for the moment. Now if I had to pay a little more to have access to premium news content, let’s say $5/month extra for all I can eat access to the NYT, WSJ, LA Times, Washington Post, FT, BBC, Reuters etc. then I would almost certainly sign up for that, if I could no longer get that content for free. It actually makes my life a great deal easier. I do not have to manage subscriptions to multiple publications, and I have instant access to a plentiful supply of news, features, and other content. Now spread that model to publications that focus on specific interests such as lifestyle magazines, international affairs, computer information, etc. A small monthly fee to receive a flood of content on your areas of interest, without having to manage subscription payments for individual publications, would make life so much easier. And Comcast would be responsible for distributing the fees that viewers pay, to the content providers.

And THAT is where advertising will find new value. If they KNOW that there are 5 million subscribers to the “Outdoor Living” internet magazine channel, as delivered by Comcast (for example), then they will be far more likely to spend gobs of money on targeted advertising.

With this scenario, the advertising dollars can, once again, start to flow to journalists and photojournalists, allowing them to devote valuable time to researching, producing, and delivering quality content.

As I said, this is all based on discussions currently underway in the advertising industry. I think it makes a lot of sense.

David Burnett on the State of Photojournalism

We’re Just Saying

From, the Digital Journalist, August 2009.

I am teaching a workshop in L.A. in a couple of weeks and for lack of a better title, I called it “Developing Skills as a Magazine Photographer.” My heart was honestly engaged in finding a proper title but somehow that is where I ended up. Even as I write, I think about what it means, and what this world of “magazine photography” is all about, and what it has become. Maybe those skills are as much about survival as they are about photographic esthetics. Of course, there are myriad stories these days about the death of journalism (in general) and the death of photojournalism (in particular) and I must say that having lived through a couple of those death periods already, I’m not quite sure just where this one fits in.

http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0908/were-just-sayin.html

Demotix Gathers Momentum

A news web site by the people, for the people. Hmmm. Not sure what to think about this.

http://www.demotix.com/

Want More Assignments? Make the Buyer’s Job Easier

Originally posted on http://rising.blackstar.com

Young photographers ask for my help with a wide range of questions — from choosing the best equipment to buy, to deciding whether to study for a degree or spend three months shooting in Africa. But from full-time freelance photographers, I almost always get the same question: How can I find more editorial work?

Sure, I tell them about mailing out promotional postcards, making in-person visits to photo editors with a fresh portfolio, and signing up for online directory services such as the ASMP. But I also warn them that these activities, by themselves, put too much emphasis on the desire or goodwill of a potential customer to select you over the competition.

Making the Buyer Look Good

What they really need to do, I tell them, is to ask themselves two questions:

• “Why should a customer buy from me?”
• “Why should that customer buy from me right now?”

How do you answer those questions? Hint — here are some wrong answers:

• “Because I am really good at shooting this subject”
• “Because I really understand what the magazine (or whatever) is looking for”
• “Because I am less expensive than the competition”

OK, now here are the correct answers:

• “Because I will make the buyer’s job easier for them”
• “Because I will make the buyer look really good”

Story Ideas for Editorial Clients

There are many ways of making your customer happy, and I am not going to give away all of my competitive secrets — but I will share one idea that I have used very successfully, and have shared with fellow photographers who have also had success with it.

Many stories featured in newspapers, magazines, Web sites, even books, relate to anniversaries. One year after 9/11. Five years after the start of the conflict in Iraq. The last 10 years of equal marriage rights. The possibilities are many. A great source for this is an almanac. I prefer the one printed by the New York Times.

What do you do with this anniversary trivia? I provide my past and prospective editorial clients with story ideas.

Specifically, I’ve put together a 12-month campaign of what I refer to as “calendar cards.” These are postcards printed on the front with the name of the next month coming up, some bullet points of what happened one year, five years, 10 years, and maybe 25 or 100 years ago (depending on what I found in the almanac), and one or more of my photographs that is in some way related to one or more of the anniversaries listed. On the back is a short paragraph reminding the reader that these anniversaries are coming up — together with a prompt to hire me to cover specific or general activities related to those stories.

Giving Something to Get Something

By taking this proactive, preemptive approach, and maintaining it for 12 months, I offered the photo editor not only ideas for new stories to cover in the next month or more, but also the resource to shoot those stories on assignment for them. Sure, there have been cases where an editor clearly took some of the ideas and gave them to other photojournalists -– that’s fine. There are other cases where I had to turn work away because I had multiple responses back on the same story idea.

In the past, I’ve sent out 500 postcards monthly at a cost of about $225 for printing and $200 for mailing. The average return per month was $8,000. This was made up of assignment work, re-selling of stories to different markets, corporate-specific work, royalties, and production fees. The taxman was very happy with me.  Interestingly, I have had some local photojournalist staffers question me about this.  The cannot believe that a decent wage can be earned if you are capable of applying even the most basic sales and marketing techniques.  I guess that my college degrees and commercial experience really paid off (thanks IBM!)

One thing to keep in mind is that many publications plan several months in advance — so if you want to try this approach or something like it, be sure to send your mailings out early.

Of course, this is just one strategy. The point is that it puts the customer’s interests first. It gives them something of value, and ties you to that value. If you can present yourself as someone who can be useful to a customer, then you will be in a far stronger position to secure future work.

Avoiding Freelancer Freefall

Originally posted on www.rising.blackstar.com

Just yesterday, a colleague sent me a Facebook message saying that she had been laid off from her newspaper. She wanted some advice on finding freelance work; I know she is not alone. Over the years, I have seen many newspaper staffers suddenly find themselves without the support structure that a corporation can provide -– no camera gear, no assignment editor, no benefits, no work, no salary. It can be a rude awakening.

Be Adaptable

After the initial shock, some welcome the opportunity to finally break free of the paper and do their own thing. Others enter a state of blind panic, wondering where the work is going to come from.

Those who do well tend to be adaptable, observing the market and responding to new trends and changing demands. They are also realistic. Even though their passion may be for creating wonderful photographs of newsworthy events, this group understands they will need to supplement their preferred projects by doing photography work that may not be so special to them — but that pays the bills.

This is not a new model. Salgado, when working for Magnum, would spend considerable time shooting annual reports for corporations, and then go off for several months to photograph his own mega-projects. I have come across cases where hardened conflict photojournalists turn to wedding photography to supplement their personal project costs.

The other group of new freelancers, those in a blind panic, tends to keep staring at the phone, wondering when it is going to ring. Here’s the thing. It probably isn’t. Although I have had many opportunities land on my lap, I never depend on that. Those who are going to survive our evolving industry situation (which I do not think is temporary) need to create their own opportunities.

Know What You Want

Getting started as a freelancer should begin with a self-assessment. What are you trying to achieve? What are you trying to do with the photographs you take?

For many of you, these may be new questions — or ones that haven’t been asked in a long time. Staff photographers are often told by their photo editor what to cover, how to cover it — maybe even provided with a shot list.

Now that you are on your own, how do you know what to shoot? How can you generate demand for your photographs? Are you just shooting to get paid? Is photography just a day job for you? Or are you more altruistic?

Depending on your answers, you might decide to work for non-profit organizations, or to teach photography, or to write about it. Or you may decide to go into corporate photography.

Be Resourceful

Corporate photography is a great option for those who can get into it. It requires the ability to build and maintain client relationships — which is not always easy during difficult economic times.

Lately, with the economy as it is, I’ve had corporate clients call to cancel their assignments for holiday events, which are usually great sources of revenue. But a resourceful freelancer never lets an assignment go without a fight.

Last week, a client called me to cancel a multi-day event. I asked why. She said her company just didn’t have the money to pay for a photographer.

“Is the event still going ahead?” I asked.

“Yes, but trimmed down,” she said.

“Have you had photographers in previous years?” I asked.

“Yes, every year for the past six years,” she replied.

“Then how would it come across if, all of a sudden, your attendees realize that they are not seeing the normal slideshow of photographs taken during the event — an annual highlight. Wouldn’t it be a little demoralizing?”

“Hmmm.”

“So how about this. How about instead of working all three days, I work one and a half days, the busiest of the event, together with the main evening entertainment, provide you with one big slideshow, and nobody really knows the difference? You save money, I save time for a different assignment, and staff morale is not jeopardized?”

And with that, a lost sale was salvaged.

I would love it if all I had to think about all day was composition, lighting, shutter speeds, lens selection, etc. But that’s not life as a freelance photographer. The sooner new freelancers can embrace this reality, the sooner they will be able to move on to re-secure their careers.