A New York Times media-section piece suggests that “professional photographer” is a poor career choice if you are just starting out.
Since graduation in 2008, Mr. Eich, 23, has gotten magazine assignments here and there, but “industrywide, the sentiment now, at least among my peers, is that this is not a sustainable thing,” he said. He has been supplementing magazine work with advertising and art projects, in a pastiche of ways to earn a living. “There was a path, and there isn’t anymore.”
“Reporter” is not much better, yet, having been both a reporter and a photojournalist (at small papers and magazines where the roles were combined), I don’t necessarily buy all this brave new world talk about bloggers replacing reporters.
Usually, reporters report while bloggers comment, criticize, amplifly, and fling feces.
How many bloggers will hang out at the courthouse, cover the interesting trials, get to know assistant district attorneys and local lawyers, and learn which court clerk will drop nuggets of information and which clerk is just a bureaucratic jerk?
And do that week after week for free or for a few bucks from Google Adsense?
My department head used to teach a class called “Careers for English Majors,” and once per semester he would ask me to be the guest speaker and talk about being a writer.
Speaking of my days in journalism, I would always explain that I did not go to journalism school but entered through the side door, so to speak.
Sometimes today journalism school must seem like buggy whip-maker school. An awful lot of J-school grads know (or knew) how to put out the school paper, but knew little about science, economics, history, religion, or whatever, because instead of taking classes in those fields they were taking “News Writing II” and “Principles of Public Relations.”
Maybe now everyone will come in the side door?
But people still need images and organized news. Otherwise, the powerful will still try to run us over. But how to organize, locate, and present it all?
UPDATE: Suzie Bright is thinking about the same things (we all are) but has a lot more to say than I do. (Note: her blog is probably NSFW in many environments.)
I get the idea that paparazzi can–and do–sometimes make big money for taking photos that capture celebrities in embarrassing or humiliating poses. And I suspect that some bloggers can make some money doing what they do.
In the 21st Century, it may be that “careers” do not exist.
Of course, with such things going on as CNN’s “I-Reporter” where they are getting photos pretty much for free to exploit to the network’s delight, I’m sure that cuts into their feelings about the need for pro’s who know where and how to get the best shots for a story.