The Oweida Outlook
Situation Definition:
Two main issues that were discussed in the Oweida lecture included the concept of photojournalism and how what is captured can distort our views on how we process a situation versus the reality, and how social media is changing journalism today. Both topics are current and relevant in the world of media in this ever-changing day and age. Kathleen Carroll, the executive editor of the Associated Press, shared some of her experiences in addition to an international perspective, as she oversees a staff of 2,300 journalists working in over 100 countries.
Analysis:
I think her message was powerful. In saying that photos distort, it is true. When photos lie, they can feel more truthful. What constitutes as a legitimate photo in particular struck me as interesting.Staging or posing a photo is unethical because it is not an accurate portrayal of something that happened, unless it is a portrait where there mustn’t be any direction. As was said by Jenni Mäenpää, “Photo editing is an inseparable part of photography in the digital age… The challenge is to maintain the credibility of a practice at a time when it is often heavily contested. In the case of news photo editing, the issue of professional ethics becomes especially crucial.” (Mäenpää, 3)
In an ethical standpoint, it very important that a photo represents an occurrence the same as it would have happened should a photographer not be present. It makes it difficult to know how the presence of a camera changes the way people behave, and if we suppose it does, does this photo then become unethical? It raised a lot of questions that I was unaware of, that piqued my interest.
These photojournalists hold the same integrity as a writer or broadcaster. These photos are held by those same ethical standards and their main goal is to show the public an accurate true portrayal of an event so they can be informed. Fabricating a photo seems as though it would not be as bad an offense at first glance, however it is no better than the acts of Stephen Glass or Jayson Blair. As was said in Rethinking Photojournalism: The Changing Work Practices and Professionalism of Photojournalists in the Digital Age, “Within photojournalism, the objectivity ideal is particularly strong. This may be explained by the special cultural status that photographs carry in modern society. Representing the outside world through photographs has the potential to be more precise than doing so through any other medium.” (Mäenpää, 2)
The public uses these mediums to make their own personal judgements and should they be altered, people go on to see a lie. Because we cannot be everywhere that something newsworthy occurs, we must rely on such raw and moving news references like photos to capture these moments, and we can hope they show it accurately. We can only make judgements off what we see; and if a moment is innacurately captured and published, this can greatly change the way the public looks at a story or event.
Tying in social media to this discussion was also a very important aspect of journalism today. Carroll discussed how young people today mostly access their new from an online or social media platform and consume information this way all the time. “We live in a society that depends on information and communication and in most of the countries, people put trust on the media as an authority to give us news, education and a lot of entertainment.” (Bader, 1) Journalist want to be the first news organizations out with the big story, but the focus is on accuracy. We don’t always want to be first, we want to be first and right; and that’s what any journalist’s credo should be.
Social media is a great tool today but it also a load of crap to sort through. It becomes difficult on social media to see who is a reputable source of information and as a member of the public, who to trust. There are millions upon millions of Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat accounts and many that claim to be a good source of information, but it becomes hard to verify that. From the The Impact of New Media on the Public:Social Movements and New Media, it was said that, “At the moment, the influence that both international press and new mass media (Internet, online press, social networks, blogs and journalists’ personal websites) have, is perhaps more powerful than ever in shaping the public opinion. People watch, listen, read, discuss among them and many times they identify themselves with the opinion or with the tendency of a certain media channel or of a journalist.” (Bader 2) With the rise of social media, there has never been a better time to be a journalist. People are seeking out information around every corner and have access at their fingertips, literally. There is a lot of trust involves. We must be selective in putting our trust into some of these sources as a main way to be informed.
If I were an editor or photojournalist, my first goal would be insuring I was well-informed about a situation. The more information you have, the more you know, when choosing or capturing a photo, what is an accurate depiction of a reality and what is not. If you have a lot of background information on the situation, especially facts that the public does not, it could help you to better judge what is newsworthy and what should be brought to public light. In the social media realm, I would take the same approach as the Associated Press. I would have a bigger focus on being right than being first, because my first duty is to inform the public.
Conclusion:
All in all, this lecture was really quite eye opening to me. It brought up many issues I was not aware of and important points in a world that is so driven by social media. Photojournalism has many questions in regards to ethics that are very important in how the public sees many issues. Holding high ethical standards is key in doing it well. We should also not be so quick to trust non credible sources on social media and just be wary when seeing where the information is coming from. Over all, I think these issues hold immense importance in the current world we live. Journalism is an ever-changing field, but our ethical standards are not and should still hold true throughout those changes. With new photography softwares and social media platforms, we have the power to better the way we deliver journalism, but we also have the power to abuse it. We must be sure to hold ourselves to a high standard with so many advances today.
References:
Mäenpää, J. (2014). Rethinking Photojournalism: The Changing Work Practices and Professionalism of Photojournalists in the Digital Age. NORDICOM Review, 35(2), 91-104.
BADER, S. (2012). The impact of new media on the public. The Protests in Romania, January 2012. Romanian Journal Of Journalism & Communication / Revista Romana De Jurnalism Si Comunicare- RRJC, 7(3/4), 35-44.