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Photojournalism is Dead – Long Live Photojournalism!

It’s ironic in a way that the rise of the internet, such a perfect medium for photojournalism, is actually putting professional photojournalists out of business in large numbers. How can it be? In summary, there are two factors:

  1. More photographers with easy access to the market.
  2. More work in the media ends online for free.

In short, less revenue shared by more people!

It is exciting and scary to watch! On the one hand, more impressive photos, of more subjects, are being taken by more talented photographers than ever. In moments it can be put online and available for the whole world to see. And according to current regulations, everything is available for free to view! Whether it’s news coming out of one of the world’s hot spots or a long report from the height of the Himalayas or the depths of the Amazon rainforest, we hope to see it for free.

However, on the other hand, it is terrifying to think about. Life-threatening, or less dramatic, professional photojournalists simply spend countless hours producing their stunning images and incur the expense of doing so. Going on long trips and expeditions, carrying heavy equipment and doing all his work. And it ends up being free on the Internet! Sometimes the photojournalist has been paid, but not always. But there is no way around it. As a photojournalist, submitting your work online, for free, is a must if you want to bring it to market. This opens up to image theft, which is illegal but widespread. And many times, quality photojournalism is even drowned out in all the other horrible photos that all Tom, Dick and Harry take, being put online alongside quality photography.

Traditional photojournalism outlets, magazines and newspapers are struggling to stay afloat, and most of them are finding it extremely difficult to obtain the benefits necessary to maintain a staff of photojournalists and actually stay alive. These financial difficulties trickle down to photojournalists, many of whom now struggle to earn a decent living from their work.

Traditional sources of income, advertising and subscriptions, are drying up on the Internet. Without a fair income, we cannot expect professional photojournalists to continue their work. But the thing is, photojournalism is still necessary, it is still in demand. Quality and reliability alike. Newspapers and magazines are not so necessary anymore. Traditional media for photojournalism may be dying, but photojournalism is not!

Outline of the future scenario

Somehow photojournalists, and indeed other professions with them, need to find a new way to connect with their audiences. It will have to involve the use of new technologies that are used by people all over the world. Online, mobile, fast, easy, adaptable, interactive, and customizable are important key concepts here. At the same time, new sources of income must be established. Micropayments are often mentioned, and I think sponsorships (including government public service budgets) and affiliate programs will also be important.

When it comes to ad-driven and sponsored photojournalism, the danger is that the ideals of photojournalism may start to crumble. Both in the selection and in the search of the stories, aspects such as objectivity and the focus on important but poorly informed issues can be neglected. But these trends for the media world to be populist and marked in its coverage, in fact, are already here.

It will be interesting to see if the media served through the new technology will make things better or worse in this regard!

The thing is, there will always be celebrity-driven populist material in the media, as that is what many consumers want, whether they like to admit it or not! But one of the big differences between old media technology (stories printed on dead trees) and new technology (online stories) is that it can be done so that you only pay for what you get. When you buy a newspaper, you pay for everything, including all the articles and entire sections that don’t interest you. If you subscribe to news and features online, you can select what you want and what you don’t want. You can select your niche. What the audience and sponsors will be willing to pay is what we will get. But without the restrictions of limited geographic distribution, many new niches could emerge with an audience large enough to be worth pursuing for photojournalists!

Some technological development and a change in user habits are still necessary before this scenario can arise. When a new king ascended to the throne, the French used to say “Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi” (the old king is dead, long live the new king). And applying this to photojournalism, it may soon be time to say “Photojournalism is dead. Long live photojournalism!”

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