Photographers: On Assignment or Fan

Whether it is the championship game of the year or an overcast mid-week game that is poorly attended, should a publication staff photographer on assignment turn to the stands to encourage the fans to cheer? The discussion on this topic began with a very specific situation described by an adviser on the JEA listserv. Advice given by four advisers is shared for your consideration.

You may wish to set up a scene that may happen between your school and another. Have members of the staff discuss what they believe the role of the staff photographers to be. Write a staff policy for conduct of staff members (editors, reporters, photographers, business staff) on assignment.

1

We coach our writers to be objective in reporting; but it rarely occurs to us to address this with the photo staff.

— Beth Shull
Arkansas
11-10-99

2

The job of the photographer is to get the BEST shots. If the kid wants to "rile up the home crowd," he should be on the cheering squad. That IS the job of the cheerleading squad. The football player's job to PLAY the game, not roust the fans into a cheering frenzy. My student photojournalists mingle with professional newspaper photographers and broadcast media professionals on the sidelines of games, and they are required to behave in a professional manner - which includes keeping their personal bias under wraps - if they don't, they are not on the sidelines for a while.

This has been my policy for 21 years and I have only had to pull a photographer one time from the sidelines photo team for "YELLING AT A REF" during the game. Needless to say, the story is now legend and everyone does his or her job in a professional manner, even to the point that one of the broadcast camera crew thought my yearbook photo editor worked for the local newspaper this past fall.

— Jane Blystone
Pennsylvania
11-11-99

3

Our shooters are required to move around the field or court of play to capture all angles possible. This includes shooting from the opposing team's sideline. They are also required to anticipate the action by constantly knowing the game situation and guessing what the upcoming play will be depending on the situation. This is extremely important in covering baseball where the camera needs to be prefocused on a certain base, depending on the situation. In the classroom, I include a mini-lecture on every sport which covers game rules, situations, diagrams of the playing surface and locations where shooters should post themselves to get the best angles. With this in mind, the photographers know they are on the scene to do a professional job and should not even think of visibly rooting for their team.

— Tony Gomez
Arizona
11-11-99

4

I am a huge sports fan and a former collegiate gymnast as well. I competed for the University of New Mexico Lobos and also worked as a student photojournalist in college. I love sports and many times when I covered sporting events, I found myself caught up in the "thrill of victory" and "agony of defeat." However, I never allowed myself to go beyond the unspoken code of becoming a cheerleader for the home team. I conducted myself in a very professional manner both on and off the court. It allowed me the opportunity to make some very powerful images and establish myself as the premier photojournalist on our collegiate staff.

I expect nothing less of my middle school students. I create a very welcoming and exciting environment for them to work in, but I do make my students and their parents to sign contracts at the beginning of the school year which outlines both professional and personal conduct while working on my staff. It really does work and they create some outstanding images. They love what they do and they feel like they are part of the working professional press. Many times my students create some images that are better than the local newspapers. One of my middle school girls placed third at the Albuquerque Convention in black and white newspaper photograph.

I feel that the student was totally out of line and should be counseled on behavior expectations while on duty. The great thing about education is that the students learn from their mistakes and they learn from real life experiences. Do not make the student feel he did something so terrible it warrants negative connotations, but do establish specific guidelines and protocol to conduct while on duty for your newspaper.

— Albert Martinez
New Mexico
11-11-99