August 30 1997
Has the media pounded this topic into the ground yet? Do you remember what happened today in 1997? Do you remember what you were doing?
I remember because it changed the way I tell stories. And probably served as a role model for the way others tell stories, too.
Mark Hertzberg broke the news via an email discussion group for the National Press Photographers Association. I was a member and when his email popped up around 8:30, I read with great interest:
Subject: AP/Princess Di accident and Paparazzi
From: Hertzberg
Date: 1997/08/30
Message-ID:
Sender: NPPA Discussion List
Comments: ********************************************************
Reply-To: Hertzberg
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.nppa-l
One posting, two subjects, to save bandwith:
1)
>I had a hiatus from daily PJ'ing for a few years, but back then AP paid us
>for submissions. Is this still the case? or only for freelancers and not
>newspaper staffers? Some photogs say yes, others say no. All I know is that
>I ain't getting paid for stuff I send from my paper.
The policy varies from state to state. Wisconsin does not pay. Contact your
local bureau photographer or bureau chief to find out more.
2) It's about 8:30 p.m. central time and CNN is reporting a serious
accident involving Princess Diana in a tunnel near the Seine in Paris. The
gentleman she has been recently romantically linked to was apparently
killed in the crash. A bodyguard/chauffeur was apparently killed, as well.
What is going to be interesting for us to follow in our profession
is that the CNN anchors are questioning tourist eyewitnesses about the
possibility of paparazzi on motorcycles being in the area. They want to
know if they were indeed following the princess, and, if so, if they have
have been the possible cause of the crash. An American tourist says a
photographer with a "professional camera" was on the scene in "five
seconds."
Mark Hertzberg
In the aftermath, the idea of paparrazi and photojournalists being one in the same created an opportunity to tell a story about life as a daily photojournalist working in a community newspaper. The result was Behind the Viewfinder - A Year in the Life of Photojournalism. The photojournalists, through me as editor, wrote journals — early blogs — about their daily work and life. These increbly talented individuals brought digital storytelling on the web to a never before seen level.
Later this year, the site will include a recorded interview of the people who participated in the project. The interview, recorded in 1999, has been reedited from it’s original public radio broadcast.
