videos worth more than 1,000 words?

In her article "Digital Photojournalism," Cheryl Diaz Meyer writes about the changing nature of photojournalism in a digital age. Drawing from her experience as a reporter in Afghanistan, Meyer writes about the difficulties of working from remote locations. Photojournalism is a field that requires the most up-to-date technology in order to maintain the quality of the photos. When photojournalists have to report from such remote locations, they need the equipment not only to take the photos, but also to transmit them back in a timely fashion. And you need both kinds of technology; not the right cameras and the video and photos will suffer, but if you can’t transmit them properly they will get back too late to be newsworthy. Taking care of the equipment seemed like a difficult task, especially without people who are trained to properly fix and use the assorted cameras, satellite phones, and other electronics. It seems like in many case the reporters just didn’t know what to expect; Meyer says a fuel filter could have saved them a lot of heartache, but she just did not know what to expect.

Actually working in the field seems like it presented a whole different set of problems. Either you sacrifice speed and get a smaller, more lightweight phone, or you take the more cumbersome one and then have an easier time transmitting photos and video. The main problem is that the people who are more qualified with the equipment are not the best reporters, and the most qualified reporters often don’t know how to use the equipment. The entire situation becomes a series of catch-22s for which there is not necessarily a better solution. Just as journalists face the challenge of updating their writing and content for a Web-driven audience with blogs and constant updates, so too must photojournalists learn to incorporate videos and digital media into their work as well.

What I liked about the article was the section on page 99 featuring Keith Jenkins, the former director of photography for washingtonpost.com and current photography editor for the Washington Post Magazine. Meyer quotes Jenkins as saying that he does not think newspapers will "change their natures," but that the quality of Web sites will continue to improve. I really agree with this chain of thought; I understand that there has been a recent decline in newspaper readership, but I don’t think this needs to mean the end of the newspaper. Newspapers will still be an important venue for print stories and still photos, but at the same time Web content will continue to expand and feature the newest kinds of technology. In time, people will be able to enjoy both; newspapers on a daily basis, and the Web for faster updates and a better variety of graphics, videos and interactive features.