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ACP Forums
This is an archived ACP Forums thread.
Greg Groggel, 2/23/2005, 10:06:07 PM
I go to the University of Puget Sound, a small liberal arts school in the Pacific Northwest. As a member of Photo Services (the org that takes the photos for the newspaper and yearbook) I have seen an influx in the active involvement of the staff. Previously it had been more like a club where you could basically show up and take an assignment. This year I hope to change the system to more of an application process.
I was hoping others from smaller schools could inform me of how their photo staff operates? How many are on the staff? What is their interaction with the newspaper staff? What structural things go well and what dosn't? And also what is their application process? Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. We need a change fast!
Responses
Patrick, 3/3/2005, 3:32:58 AM
Greg,
I'm photo editor at a school with an undergraduate population of 4500. Our weekly newspaper has a photo editor, 3 paid staff photographers, and nonpaid freelancers whose population goes up and down from quarter to quarter (usually around 6). We all meet once a week for an hour with two professional photojournalists who critique the previous week's paper and also give workshops, etc. Students can get 1 unit of credit for attending the practicum as a staff or freelance photographer.
Regarding interaction with the rest of the paper's staff, we have a web based photo request system that section editors fill out. It includes a summary of the story, what the reporter and editor have in mind for the photo(s), the reporter's contact information, and so on. Once filled out, it is automatically e-mailed to me, and then I bring the print outs to our meetings. At the meeting, the photographers go over each one and we divy the assignments up in the hopes that each person has one assignment.
This meeting takes place every Tuesday. Photographers have until that Sunday to news section photos (so that I can have photos ready for a frontpage meeting that night). Sports, scene, other section photos are due by the following Tuesday (thus giving them 1 week). From here, I sort through them and have them ready by Tuesday night/Wednesday morning for Thursday's paper.
The photographer is responsible for getting in contact with the reporter for more information. Once the photographer takes the photos (we shoot digital), they bring the card in and dump all of the photos onto the photo dept's computer. I usually ask them to select a few that they like in particular, but I'll run through all of them to see if anything else might work. They also give me as much info as they can so I can come up with cutlines.
We have applications for staff positions in which they submit photos, personal statement, availability, etc. Freelancers are often students who applied but didn't get a position, so the freelance position gives them an opportunity to improve their skills or see if they want to continue and later apply for the next year's staff if they're interested. This ends up creating a little competition among all of the photographers.
In the end, this creates a good amount of work for me, especially sifting through photos and writing cutlines. Having an assistant photo editor to lessen the load might be a good idea.
Hope this helps!
Patrick
Greg, 3/23/2005, 4:25:22 PM
Are there any last pieces of advice from Photo Staff members? I have to present the structural changes this next week in front of the media board?
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