Point-counterpoint: an academic view of photojournalism education

John Freeman

Associate Professor of Journalism
University of Florida

After I was alerted to read Don Winslow's web essay boldly titled "The future of photojournalism," I fumed and fretted for days about how to respond.

As an educator with more than 17 years teaching experience, should I blast back a reply to him for chastising photojournalism programs like mine that turn out "flotillas of graduates?" Should I thank him for his eloquent piece that sets the record straight about salaries at many newspapers? Or should I seek out nuggets of truth on both sides of the issue and try to address photojournalism education as I see it?

Winslow writes with an assumed sense of authority that would be easy to criticize since he's actually an outsider to academia. I wanted to examine his credentials and photographs and beat up his arguments as totally unfounded, but instead I admired his website and work. Apparently he's got a good job as director of photography at CNET, a San Francisco company that lists its profile thusly: "CNET feeds the public's appetite for high-tech, providing programming and information relating to computers, the Internet, and digital technologies via the World Wide Web and television."

What bothered me most about his essay was a complete lack of love expressed toward the gathering of photographic images and their distribution via newspapers, magazines or other methods of delivery. Why do arguments bemoaning the future of photojournalism always have to center on money? Why isn't there some discussion about job satisfaction - the thrill of having your work displayed on the front page of your community's newspaper? Why can't we talk about the freedom that comes from cruising around a city all day in the open air while stressful doctors and lawyers are stuck inside their offices with paperwork and clients? When did photojournalism stop being a profession and start becoming a business?

"HANDS" was taken by former University of Florida student Justin Best during a one-week visit to The Miami Herald. Although the "practicum" was unpaid, Best's published photo later scored high in the national Hearst photojournalism competition. The man pictured was being supported by relatives and friends after his brother was killed on Christmas Day.

Four years ago I conducted a study addressing job satisfaction among National Press Photographers Association members over 40 years of age. By looking at issues that might affect those who have settled into a career as a photojournalist, I wanted to find out what conditions made them happy or unhappy.

You know what? - The biggest surprise was that salary was not the number one issue. Management was. The happiest photographers - regardless of newspaper circulation - found job satisfaction with employers that treated them fairly and with picture editors who believed in their work. Many responded with notes like this: "I can't imagine doing any other job. I love the freedom of being 'out there,' and of getting paid to produce images that mean something to my community." Several photographers wrote back that they had tried running the picture desk but missed the experience of working "on the street." The disillusioned photojournalists in my survey disliked their bosses or felt alienated from the newsroom.

I am not saying that all salaries and working conditions are ideal. I find it disturbing to read that a 150,000-circulation newspaper close to Washington, D.C. would advertise for a photographer with starting pay at $18,000. That's what I made when I left The Wichita Eagle, Kansas's largest newspaper, in 1981. During my six years there, I constantly campaigned for more mileage and a decent camera allowance for the exact reasons expressed in Winslow's essay. Editorials I wrote for the regional NPPA newsletter (such as "You're donating your car to photojournalism") constantly landed me in the editor's office. He also didn't like me questioning why advertising representatives drove company cars to visit clients, while staff photographers beat the life out of their personal Hondas and Toyotas.

Although I still believe many newspaper publishers turn a deaf ear towards demands for better working conditions, not all is doom and gloom. A recent Florida graduate now in the northwest recently told me that his under-60,000-circulation paper provides each photographer Canon digital cameras and a four-wheel drive vehicle. On top of that, after his internship turned full-time, he now enjoys a first-year salary in the low $30's.

"INTERSTATE WRECK" was photographed by University of Florida senior Rich Glickstein during a one-week semester-break visit to The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. The image was part of Glickstein's first-place portfolio in the 1997-1998 news/sports category of the Hearst contest. Glickstein received only college credit for the week.

At the University of Florida, we encourage internships wholeheartedly. They aren't intended as moneymaking ventures. Internships provide opportunities to build a portfolio beyond classroom assignments. They are opportunities for students to sample the profession they've committed their college career to so far. The experience puts students alongside professionals who will mentor and challenge them.

If photojournalism programs didn't require internships, even fewer graduates would be finding job because they'd lack the skills necessary to succeed. Schools can't teach it all. Some interns also come back with a changed attitude or a changed major. Some don't like the deadline stress of handling four assignments a day. Others return to campus so fired up they can't wait to finish school and get out in the real world.

I believe I'm speaking for many of my colleagues when I say we aren't withholding information about salaries and job prospects. I routinely tell new majors that many graduates begin at two-photographer papers and they make less than $20,000 a year to start. Those with solid internships at large papers will do much better. When students ask, "Will I find a job?" my answer is the same as it's always been: "The best people will always find work. The cream rises to the top." This is true of any profession, whether it's business or law or journalism. If there are fewer positions in the workforce, the quality of photojournalism should also rise, because the best people will fill those spots.

Winslow's essay states that educators recruit to fill classrooms that will guarantee our teaching positions. In reality, however, student numbers are not the only criteria looked at by administrators. A department's credit hour production is often viewed as a whole. While Professor X may teach only three hours a week to 250 students in a lecture hall, Professor Y meets 14 hours a week with 75 students in a combination of lecture and lab, so it's a wash when taken as a whole. Also, some deans measure a professor's success by research grants won or scholarly articles published, not the number of chairs filled in a classroom.

I've never once written a recruiting letter or visited a Florida high school specifically to keep the flow of photo majors streaming in. Yet every semester when my classes are full I'm amazed and thrilled that the tap is still open. Our college's excellent reputation may lead to this continuing pipeline. I know that long-standing reputations support the success of major photojournalism programs such as Western Kentucky University, Ohio University, Syracuse University, The University of Missouri, San Jose State University and San Francisco State University.

Many dedicated faculty members are indeed taking steps to account for changing conditions in the marketplace. Programs now teach and steer students toward other related opportunities in journalism such as page design and working on Internet sites. And think of how much change photojournalism educators have had to contend with in the past ten years! Most should be praised for hanging in there as darkrooms bite the dust and newer technology and learning about it replaces discussions about Dektol and D-76. The writing and reporting professors have only had to master simple word processing.

Returning to my original complaint about how the Winslow piece ignores any passion for the profession, I'm reminded of a one credit-hour course we have at Florida called "The Practicum: the Visiting Student Program." For one week, students visit a newspaper, observe operations, do a few ride-alongs and write a two-page paper for me about the experience.

Although that's all that is required, the student often gets sent on an assignment or two. For no pay, they shoot and then get published. They come back with clips from The Miami Herald, The Orlando Sentinel, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and other newspapers. On at least two occasions, photos taken during Practicum visits have resulted in portfolio pieces that also placed in the prestigious Hearst intercollegiate photo contest.

Where do students stay for the week? Some have parents or relatives in those cities. Some rent hotel rooms. When do they find time for the 40-hour week? Usually it takes up their Christmas holidays or spring break. They sacrifice to succeed. They pay their dues, just like overworked interns in hospitals and account executives at advertising agencies struggle to learn the business while on the job.

Why do these students donate a free week of labor to a newspaper? They want to follow in the footsteps of those who've gone before them - they want to be storytellers of life. Remember, no one holds a gun to anyone's head and forces him or her down the road of photojournalism to make a living. Some will crash and burn. But if the passion is there, and the love for the work is strong in one's heart, the journey and job will be worthwhile.

When I think about all the fingerpointing and complaining that I've read lately about the future of photojournalism and university programs and AP contracts and NPPA, I am reminded of a quote from actor Bill Murray in the Feb. 21, 1999 issue of PARADE magazine.

In an interview with Dotson Rader about his efforts to be successful, Murray says it all: "I just wanted to make enough money to have a good time.... I can't blame anybody. You're completely responsible for what you do. And the struggle with that responsibility is the whole challenge in life. I wanted to do something I could be proud of."

We should all aspire to as much.