Mega-pixels, Click-streams and Gate-keepers: How Citizen Photojournalism is shaping the news. by Mark Westlake

Dissertation

Mega-pixels, Click-streams and Gate-keepers: How Citizen Photojournalism is shaping the news.

Student No.: 2513821

Dissertation submitted as a requirement for the degree of BA Digital Photography, London South Bank University, May 2009.

Abstract: This dissertation is an attempt to chart the past, present and future of citizen photojournalism. The key aims were to discover the affects of citizen journalism and citizen photojournalism on the mass media, and to assess the impact on professional photojournalism that citizen photojournalism has had. To do this, the history of citizen journalism and it’s relationship with mass media is charted. This involves the change from a ‘Push’ media system to a ‘Pull’ media system, as it is one of the defining factors that have allowed the participatory culture that is currently prevalent in the news industry to flourish. Similarly, the issue of convergence and new media is discussed, as it is the foundation of citizen photojournalism. The proliferation of affordable, practical means of capturing digital images is fundamental to the success of citizen photojournalism.

Ultimately, however, a lack of training for citizen

journalists and citizen photojournalists means there is a lack of professionalism, knowledge of ethics and experience that has resulted in citizen photojournalism effectively operating in a different sphere of the news to professional photojournalism, potentially allowing them to co-exist with little harmful effect.

Contents:

Page:

Chapter 1 - Introduction.

Chapter 2 - Citizen Journalism and The Media.

Chapter 3 - Citizen Photojournalism.

Chapter 4 - Professional Citizen Photojournalism?

Chapter 5 - Conclusion.

Bibliography.

Appendix.

Chapter 1 - Introduction. The aim of this research project is to assess the impact of citizen photojournalism on photography in the news. This presents two clear objectives - firstly, to discover how the world of journalism has and will be changed by the rise in participatory culture regarding news media, and secondly, to assess how this change is affecting the role of professional photojournalists. I intend to use the following chapters to discuss, separately, the birth and development of citizen journalism, citizen photojournalism, then finally the relationship between professional photojournalists/photographers and citizen photojournalists. There are, naturally, many texts on these subjects that discuss various matters that encompass all facets of the argument from potential economic blueprints for the future commercial exploits of news agencies to reports discussing how professionals and amateurs may work together. There are also many contrary opinions, ranging from those who describe the increase of citizen journalism as a positive step forward as an act of empowerment to the general public where “it has placed the power to shake the mighty in the hands of the individual or small groups” (Hargreaves (2003; p.255)), to those who are concerned that citizen journalism and the digital revolution threaten to “Hollow out the craft of journalism” (Currah (2009; p.5)) by replacing accuracy and facts by a desire for faster news production and more entertainment based news. Simply from these specific quotes it is clear to see how different authors create their arguments - Currah’s supposition that by allowing the public access to the creation of journalism that it will weaken the profession is indicative of his belief that those involved in journalism are performing a valuable service that needs to be left in the care of professionals, whilst Hargreaves’ suggestions of public empowerment belie his ideas that the public’s opinions and ideas are a necessity to the furthering of journalism, and reporting of the news throughout the world. I intend to aggregate these sources to find a synthesis of these contrary viewpoints, as well as using various articles produced by industry professionals. I also intend to, at necessary points, draw on examples of media content produced by citizen journalists and photojournalists. It is key to keep this project grounded in the realm of current affairs and news as well as the academic domain, as it is a matter that is being shaped 4

by a multitude of forces, ranging from the continuation of the digital revolution from a theoretical viewpoint, events - both major and minor - that occur in the world and technological developments that can offer more capabilities and tools for the wouldbe citizen journalist. Similarly, as several writers have stated in their own texts, due to the rapid change in technology and the Internet essays and books written on the subject tend to only be factually or critically relevant for an often short period of time. To quote Kakabadse et al, “Rapid developments in the application and use of the Internet create new opportunities as well as reformulations of 'older problems'. This chapter reviews current trends in Internet use, realising that this is a 'snap-shot' subject to rapid obsolescence.” (Kakabadse & Kakabadse (2000; p.127)) However, it is not just the technological shifts that can alter the accuracy of texts - the writer’s own leanings towards technology can influence them. From conservative academics to liberal and ambitious journalists, the author’s own feelings on technological development as a whole can cast a different light on their writings. For instance, Woolgar states that “It is argued that we social scientists need to contribute good, solid, empirical work in the face of wild (unsupported) imaginings about the supposedly transformative qualities of the Internet. However, the downside of this point of view is that it can rather discourage theoretical change and development.” (Woolgar (2004) cited in Castells (2004; p.127)) My aim in writing this essay is to, when referencing different texts, attempt to portray the context in which they’re given as well as discuss their relevance and usefulness to my research. The views of the public have always been crucial to journalists in the search of news, in terms of their usefulness as sources. As Gans puts it: “The source-journalist relationship is… a tug of war. While sources attempt to ‘manage’ the news, putting the best light on themselves, the journalists concurrently ‘manage’ the sources in order to extract the information they want.” (Gans (1979; p.117)) It is interesting to note the differences held by authors writing on the subject in Gans’ generation as well as the current generation - we can clearly see the relationship defined under Gans’ terms in this particular quote, which holds a marked divide between the members of the public and the journalists themselves, compared to the more inclusive language used in modern day reportage. Although Gans is referring more to the role of the public as 5

direct sources for journalism, the public’s opinions were asked for in interviews or surveys conducted on the street, opinion polls, or given in the form of letters or phone calls to news companies. In his book We The Media, Gillmor reinforces this idea: “Inviting the audience to contribute isn’t a new phenomenon. After all, we’ve asked readers to write letters to the editor for a long time, and we generally answer the phones when readers call with tips or complaints. In other words, some conversation has always taken place; we just need to have more.” (Gillmor (2004; p.120)) It is also clear to see in Gillmor’s more modern text the inclusive ideas held about modern day journalism compared to the ideas of writers in Gans’ generation - Gans refers to two opposing factions, whereas Gillmor proposes an idea of collaboration. Gillmor also directly mentions the need for more inclusiveness between mass media and it’s audience, something that has been recognised in the past decade. However, as I intend to discuss later, the change from a “Push” media to a “Pull” media where the audience are more than simply passive members of the public who are occasionally asked for their opinions (Or even given the chance to voice them) has only recently fully come about. Relating now specifically to the use of media content generated by members of the public, there have been many occasions where mainstream news outlets have purchased images or video footage (Or displayed them under license) from amateur sources. Indeed, many of these citizen-provided images form indelible prints in different nation’s cultural memories - the silent 8mm film footage recorded by Abraham Zapruder of President John F. Kennnedy’s assassination in Dallas in 1963; the stricken Concorde passenger jet crashing in France; Jules and Gedeon Naudet’s documentary footage of the first plane to hit the World Trade Centre - and this is something that is set to continue, if not increase in frequency, with the dawning of citizen journalism and citizen photojournalism. With a greater number of people equipped with constantly improving image recording devices (in all their forms), the chances of someone - anyone - being in the right place at the right time to capture a news-worthy event increase.

The roles between the media companies and their

audience have changed, from professional producers presenting information to passive audiences to the audiences becoming much more active in their production. Frequent requests from television news broadcast anchors to send in images or footage captured of news, which are echoed on the respective websites of news 6

agencies, ensure a constant stream of user generated content, which led to a drastic change in how news is formed and the structure of the modern-day newsroom. Again echoing the recent change in journalism towards defining the public as integral to news creation, Vicky Taylor, editor of Interactivity at BBC News states, said in an interview with Oliver Luft, “Interactivity, the feedback we get from the audience, is across everything we do now at BBC News.” (Luft (2007))

Chapter 2 - Citizen Journalism and The Media. As William Martin wrote, "The convergence of computing and telecommunications continues to make itself felt in just about every area of life in modern society." (Martin (1995; p.7)) He then quantified this by listing a series of industries, but curiously - or perhaps a sign of the times at that point - not the news or media industries. Specifically stated were the more mechanised or industrialised industries, which were the ones initially impacted most by technological change. However, as time went on, technological progress was once again aimed at the consumer rather than producer, which led to a digital revolution that end-users were directly involved in.

This development of what became termed Information Communication

Technology (ICT) grew in tandem with the growth of the internet.

Initially a

primarily military-based enterprise, the potential of the internet began to be more fully explored when it was entered into the public - and commercial - domain. The act of members of the public creating and publishing to a wide-spread audience their own commentaries on the world around them - the birth of citizen journalism as we currently know it - was started when the first personal websites were created (arguably ‘zines were the first such device, but by their nature they were more local than global in their circulation). At the time, although there was software to enable the design of web-pages by those who were less technically savvy, publishing and updating was difficult. As Chris Anderson, founder of media website Indypendent, wrote of the creation of these sites, “Updating these sites was time consuming and took a bit of technological skill: you had to know html, for starters. Consequently, updates were (relatively) rare. I don't recall there been very much two-way communication besides email; basically, the equivalent of a digital ‘letter to the editor.’” (Anderson (2006)) It is this two-way communication, or conversation, that is indicative of modern news media, of blogging, of citizen journalism and of citizen photojournalism. The concept of a global conversation had been realised, something which was not lost on Currah: “As an open network, the web has provided that basis for a radically different media ecology, in which the audience is no longer a passive recipient of the news but rather an active participant in its creation, verification and distribution.” (Currah (2009; p.12))

The issues faced by the pioneers of personal websites were largely resolved with the emergence of user-friendly blogging software. With simple text editing software and easy-to-use html templates, combined with generally free hosting and server usage, it had never been easier for the public to have their voice heard. With all the technical issues and complicated hosting configurations being taken care of behind the scenes, the citizen journalist is allowed to focus exclusively on the story at hand. As Currah states, “As an open network, the web has provided that basis for a radically different media ecology, in which the audience is no longer a passive recipient of the news but rather an active participant in its creation, verification and distribution.” (Currah (2009; p.12)) Initially, the participation of citizen journalists tended to focus more on personal, or local, issues. The general public, who were still in many ways the audience to mass media, weren’t the only ones making use of the new possibilities that the internet offered. Hargreaves noted that “Digital offers a huge expansion in the amount of data that can be forced through any communication network, and allows it to be manipulated and displayed upon a range of cheap and simple desk-top, hand-held or living-room devices. Since the telecommunications network is global… journalism has become, almost at a stroke, a global enterprise.” (Hargreaves (2003; p.242)) Newspaper owners were some of the first mainstream media companies to embrace the internet as a medium for their product, providing either a free, reduced-content version of their newspaper online, or providing an offer for people to pay for a subscription and receive more detailed information and articles. Hargreaves went on to summarise this period of growth thusly: It was a time when everyone thought they needed to be in everyone else's business. Newspapers were terrified that the internet would steal their readers and their classified advertising... Magazines rushed to create new identities on-line and in multi-channel television. Television piled into interactive services, to head off the internet challenge. And just about everyone thought about merging, to deal with the much proclaimed 'convergence' of the computer, telecommunications, television, and newspapers industries via the new digital technology. (Hargreaves (2003; p.236)) Hargreaves was in a fairly good position to judge the shifting tides of journalism, 9

being at one point the editor of The Independent, and working for other titles, and as such his experiences and those he references anecdotally in Journalism: Truth or Dare? can give an insight into the inner-most workings of mass media that ordinary academic text-books may normally miss. An undeniable truth for the mass media organisations is that newspaper sales are declining. The same is true for the amount of television being watched by the public. For example, “there was a universal decline in the circulation of both popular/midmarket (-11%) and quality (-2%) daily newspapers between 1995 and 2005” (Currah (2009; p.23)) and for television viewing figures, the “annual consumption of national television news (per individual, aged 4+) declined from 103.3 hours in 2001 to 90.8 hours in 2006.” (Currah (2009; p.23)) Although these statistics are fairly bleak for the press and broadcast sectors, Currah still points out that “As many interviewees remarked, there is still a powerful appetite for the edited news programme, on TV and in print, presented alongside a selection of contextually relevant advertising.” (Currah (2009; p.23)) This dependency on the mass media as an arbiter of truth, even with the massive amount of information available to the public through all the various mediums, is fairly telling as to the audience’s trust, and is also a theme that will be returned to later in this essay. Similarly, in times of disaster, Gillmor believes that “For the foreseeable future, this will continue to be the case because TV is our gathering place in national crises, because of the high bandwidth costs for offering video over the Web, and for the simple fact that mass media still reaches the biggest audience.” (Gillmor (2004; p.120)) These factors have led to a change in mass media from a “Push” form of news whereby mass media is simply a producer of news that it pushes towards the audience to a “Pull” form of news in which the media producers create a more personal experience for the audience. As Currah broadly states, “The underlying shift is from push to pull; from the generic push of mass media to the customised pull of new media such as blogs, social networks and virtual worlds.” (Currah (2009; p.11)) Later, he also elaborates upon that premise by noting that mass media organisations “have traditionally been organised on a linear basis as purveyors of packaged news, which was sent to a relatively passive audience, via broadcast or print. That massmedia model is now giving way to a more interactive and more democratised model, 10

which instead rests upon an ongoing and expansive conversation with an online audience.” (Currah (2009; p.71)) The key words from Currah’s text are “generic” and “customised”. For mass media, the levels of involvement of the audience are low, in so much as the audience are given access to a standardised, generic package that will be identical as to what is offered to other members of the audience. The internet is different in that, for the first time, audiences can fully pick and choose which aspects of the media they wish to view, literally customising their version of the news. This non-linear approach to media grants the audience more depth and breadth of knowledge compared to what is available via traditional media outlets. Burnett and Marshall suggest that this layering system is organised as follows - “…a top layer provides the traditional who, what, when, where and why. The next layer offers a historical context. Additional layers provide analysis, expert commentary, and reader discussion and feedback.” (Burnett & Marshall (2003) cited in Campbell (2004; p.251)) Similarly, the internet and new ICT means that audiences can have samples of text, video footage, images, interactive maps and so on 1 - essentially, the best of television, radio and newspaper coverage, with yet more interactive content. This is a point that Hargreaves was keen to note: “Television differed from print in many significant ways, in terms of volume and complexity of information each medium could convey... The internet is, in a sense, the bastard child of both broadcasting and print.” (Hargreaves (2003; p.252)) This positive assessment isn’t one that is shared by all - Farrows is slightly more damning of computers as a medium. “Reading from even the nicest computer screen is so unpleasant... that computers will remain better suited to jumping from topic to topic than the sustained intellectual, artistic, or emotional experience that print can provide.” (Farrows (1996) cited in Kerckhove (1998; p.103)) It is perhaps important to note that Farrows was writing over a decade ago, and the desire for intellectual debate online has spread substantially. With many books being published for free online, innovative online-specific developments such as ‘Wikis’, and more scope for discourse with people globally, it would be hard to imagine that that particular view-point could still be held. One of the criticisms levelled at the modern mass media organisations is that they now aim to entertain as much as they aim to inform. As Campbell notes, “The incorporation of news outlets into massive media organisations places news 11

production within predominantly entertainment-oriented commercial organisations, creating internal pressures on journalists that many argue are in conflict with the traditional principles of journalism.” (Campbell (2004; p.246)) Hargreaves concurs with and rationalises that viewpoint: “Journalism has always entertained as well as informed. Had it not done so, it would not have reached a mass audience. But today, say journalism's critics, the instinct to amuse is driving out the will, and depleting the resource, to report and analyse in any depth.” (Hargreaves (2003; p.104)) Hill does, however, argue that “What does appear to be the case is that the trend towards news as entertainment is being to some extent balanced by greater accessibility to the news.” (Hill (2001; p.179)) This balance that Hill refers to could be seen as still being tipped towards news as entertainment, especially in light of the recent media furore surrounding the highly publicised battle with cancer by reality television star Jade Goody, culminating with her death early in 2009. Many viewers and readers of the traditional outlets complained at the time of the saturation in the media of Goody’s death, and it was a story that was fairly indicative of the more personality-driven media that is now

prevalent.

Regarding the newspaper industry,

the

quality/broadsheet newspapers have a stronger focus on ‘commentary’ or ‘opinion’ columns where the specific author writes on a topic, but not in the style of a news report in lieu of specific news articles. The tabloids have also begun to feature more celebrity-driven features, with the daily habits of celebrities often making the news2. This shift to news that is as much about it’s propensity to entertain as it’s ability to inform favours citizen journalists, who often lack the investigative skills of professional journalists. Hargreaves briefly touches upon this in his text, suggesting that the allure of online fame and the ease-of-use of online publishing tools means that some are over-looking the need to learn the skills required for journalism - “There were so many jobs, it became difficult to recruit people into journalism training courses. Who needs training when there are jobs galore for anyone with enthusiasm and a bit of dotcom attitude?” (Hargreaves (2003; p.236)) This lack of professional training is something that various other authors are keen to note. As McGuire noted: “The digital age has transformed the media business and if we’re not careful it could lay waste to our ethics and values. If that happens the carnival barker, the news director and the editor will be indistinguishable and our advantages as public-servicedriven media outlets could be lost.” (McGuire (2007)) Media practitioners appear to 12

be undecided as to whether the divide between journalists and the public needs to be reduced or increased. Gillmor, who is keen to embrace the new future of journalism combining with citizen journalism, notes the duality of the situation. On the one hand, it is important to have the capability for members of the public to be able to communicate their particular story, otherwise any form of story in the public interest will be lacking the crucial ‘public’ element. Similarly, there can be advantages for the citizen journalist. As Gillmor puts it, “[Citizen journalists] can also be better, or certainly offer more depth, than the professionals who face the standard limitations of reporting time and available space (or airtime) for what they learn.” (Gillmor (2004; p.137)) Similarly, he remarks that “What excites me in this context… is that the growing number of blogs written by people who want to talk intelligently about an area of expertise is a sign of something vital. Blogs can be acts of civic engagement.” (Gillmor (2004; p.139)) This optimism and desire to see the public engaged in the act of creating news and indeed punditry is still tempered by the knowledge that journalism, after all, isn’t someone in isolation creating a story. He goes on to say: Bloggers who disdain editors entirely, or who say they’re largely irrelevant to the process, are mistaken. [Editors] ask tough questions, demand better evidence for assertions, and, ultimately, understand how this thing we call journalism comes together... We can help the new journalists understand and value ethics, the importance of serving the public trust, and professionalism. We can’t, and shouldn’t, keep them out. (Gillmor (2004; p.135)) Gillmor’s inclusion sentiments are mirrored by editors working at the BBC, suggesting that with the usage of content suggested by or created by the audience, “the [user-generated content] unit also supplies new sources and case studies for stories being reported by journalists across the BBC. “We're almost like a news agency finding case studies and people we can go and interview to find out more about,” says Cowie. “It's no different from any other journalistic source — it's a tipoff. You then check it out and if it stands up, you publish it,” says Taylor.” (Stabe (2006)) This necessity to lead by example in terms of upholding the ethics and professionalism of journalism is, evidently, still noted by the media themselves. What remains unclear is how the inclusion of citizen journalists will manifest itself, and whether the media organisations will answer their critics and begin to change the news industry back into the authoritative, factual media it once was from the current 13

state of entertainment, celebrity, and personality-driven news it inhabits. Ultimately, as Tim Gardam states: What is beyond dispute is that the basis of journalism as a transaction, where in the past the many have paid to gain access to the writings of the few, has changed fundamentally… Yet it remains hard to imagine a civil society that functions effectively, or a citizenry that can hold its government democratically to account, without a self-confident, independent media with a professional ethic that ascribes itself to standards. (Gardam (2009) cited in (Currah (2009; p.3))

Chapter 3 - Citizen Photojournalism. In this chapter, I intend to build on the previous chapter’s discussion of citizen journalism by focussing on citizen photojournalism - the development of this concept, it’s potential future, it’s impact on news as a whole and it‘s acceptance into working practises of news corporations and ethical issues relating to citizen photojournalism. In his essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Benjamin declares that “with the different methods of technical reproduction of a work of art, its fitness for exhibition increased.” (Benjamin, cited in Evans & Hall (Eds) (1999; p.77))

Although in this instance he was referring strictly to works of art (and, it

should be noted, that particular essay was written in 1936 yet the fundamental concepts he was suggesting are still accurate for the digitised world we‘re living in today), the statement also rings true for digital media. As mentioned earlier in this essay, media companies have previously purchased video or stills from members of the public, but with analogue media this was more difficult to send to organisations from the author, then once inside an organisation it was more difficult to edit and cut into either a broadcast or to be added into a newspaper. However, with the ease of transmittance and editing of the digital image, this has completely changed. The multi-media nature of the digital image, combined with the layered structure of news online (And on interactive television, and to some extent newspapers), means that with a few mouse clicks an image can be procured from it’s source and inserted into a website article instantly, or added to a newspaper article or television news broadcast very close to any editorial deadline with very little effort. This ease of use, combined with the proliferation of digital imaging technology to the general public, means that user generated content in the form of video or image is highly prized by many news companies. Looking strictly at the technology, digital camera and cameraphone technology has had an almost exponential advancement in their short histories. The modern day mobile phone is now so much more than a phone - built-in Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to enable users to navigate the world more easily, more enhanced internet browsing technologies, advanced photographic technologies that allow greater image quality and more photographic flexibility by the use of different

exposure settings and image zooming. Previously, this kind of advanced technology would have been the preserve of the few - however, according to Cellular News, there is currently a penetration rate of 75% for cameraphones in the UK (Unknown (2007)). Although undoubtedly there will be many instances where an individual may possess more than one phone there is still a potentially huge number of equipped future citizen photojournalists in our midst. At this point, it should be noted that cameraphones aren’t the sole technology used in relation to citizen journalism. Digital cameras in all their forms have become more accessible, more affordable, and more advanced. However, whichever camera is being discussed, very few - if any - are as small, compact, unobtrusive and portable as a modern cameraphone, and are therefore less likely to be carried by citizen photojournalists on a daily basis. The majority of cameraphones still operate as an almost fully automatic device with the user simply pressing a button to activate the faux ’shutter’. This means that they can be used spontaneously by the end user to capture whatever images they prefer, generally with acceptable results. Again referring to usage statistics - in 2008 alone in the UK 553 million multi-media messages were sent (MDA (2009)) - we can even chart the rise in popularity of using a cameraphone as a camera and more crucially from a networked society’s point of view, the growth of media sharing amongst the public. With cameraphone technology making it as straight-forward as possible for users to capture images (both stills and moving images), it gives the average member of the public a greater foothold to gain access to the world of photojournalism. To quote Ananny and Strohecker: “We believe that photojournalism offers a different kind of accessibility (compared to text-based journalism) for letting communities of people of different ages, backgrounds and literacy skills create and critique dilemmas.” (Ananny & Strohecker (2002; p.2))

As they state in that text, whereas citizen

journalism requires some standards of literacy, photojournalism transcends most barriers to communication. Ananny and Strohecker, in that essay, were of the view that this ease of access of citizen photojournalism was a positive aspect of the new media revolution, and were discussing methods of nurturing and fostering the desire to create images to capture events. As they went on to say, the ease of use of most cameras mean that “Photojournalism is a “low-threshold, high-ceiling” domain.” 16

(Ananny & Strohecker (2002; p.2)) Despite having this ‘low-threshold’, there are still many aspects of photojournalism that citizen photojournalists need to incorporate into their practice such as impartiality, ethics and so on.

The ethics of citizen

photojournalism came to light when the images captured by citizen photojournalists in the aftermath of the London bombings that occurred on the 7th July, 2005, which might be regarded as the first real instance of citizen photojournalism in such a scenario (Previous citizen photojournalist actions in disasters such as the Asian tsunami that occurred during the New Year period of 2004 tended to reflect more on the effects of nature, as opposed to human suffering directly). In that particular instance several survivors of the bombings were fairly critical of the actions of some members of the public who attempted to capture footage or images of the dead or injured, in lieu of helping them. To research this more, Mark Glaser interviewed various people directly involved in the events of the 7/7 bombings, and received statements such as ““The victims were being triaged at the station entrance by Tube staff and as I could see little more I could do so I got out of the way and left,” he wrote. “As I stepped out people with cameraphones vied to try and take pictures of the worst victims. In crisis some people are cruel.”” (Glaser (2005)) While it is worth remembering that the interviews took place less than a week after a horrifying ordeal for all involved, this sentiment has also rung true in more recent media events, where most images or video captured at disasters are from citizen photojournalists. In On Photography, Sontag alludes to the potential for this to happen: Part of the horror of such memorable coups of contemporary photojournalism… comes from the awareness of how plausible it has become, in situations where the photographer has the choice between a photograph and a life, to choose the photograph. The person who intervenes cannot record; the person who is recording cannot intervene. (Sontag (1977) cited in Todkill (2001; p.35)) Sontag is referring to professional photojournalists in that instance, both during war and in times of peace (For example, the infamous photograph by Kevin Carter of a starving girl near a food station in Sudan, vulture waiting in the background for the child to die3), yet the desire to capture events as they unfold is the same as it is for citizen photojournalists - although perhaps without the desire for a Pulitzer prize. 17

Sontag also mentions in Regarding the Pain of Others “…images of the repulsive can also allure. Everyone knows that what slows down highway traffic going past a horrendous car crash is not only curiosity. It is also, for many, the wish to see something gruesome.” (Sontag (2004; p.85)) Sontag would appear to be suggesting that this simply a technologically advanced version of ‘rubber-necking’, yet others may offer a potentially more sympathetic view. To view the world through a camera alienates and removes the photographer from the world. Instead of being a participant or victim, the photographer becomes a passive observer - or as Sontag puts it, the camera “is also a powerful instrument for depersonalizing our relation to the world.” (Sontag (1982; p.359)) The things that become important are composing a shot and then taking it. This distancing from reality might perhaps allow people who are caught up in an event such as the 7/7 bombings a means or method of dealing with the extraordinary situation they find themselves in. It can also be said that some people are compelled to tell the story, or to relay the events, that occurred. In that the majority of images supplied to news organisations by citizen photojournalists are usually given away for free, it can be fair to assume that the majority of citizen photojournalists are not creating these images purely for fiscal gain.

Ananny and Strohecker take the idea further - “As a citizen

photojournalist adopts the camera’s visual perspective and literally frames an image she is also creating a conceptual frame for communicating a perspective to an audience who may or may not be explicitly considered.” (Ananny & Strohecker (2002; p.2)) Increasingly, however, it is becoming clear to see that citizen photojournalists may be capturing images of events in a more pre-meditated way. Although in instances such as terrorist attacks and natural disasters the people involved are innocent bystanders, recently there has been an influx of citizen photojournalists attending events that could potentially be news-worthy. For example, at the recent G20 protests, whilst the authorities were recording protesters using digital cameras and CCTV equipment, the protesters themselves were using digital cameras and their mobile phones capture the scenes. Interestingly, the professional photojournalists were grouped together, and documented what should’ve been the largest flash-point of the day, the vandalism of 18

the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland4. However, the people who captured the most vital images of the day were those who, legally, shouldn’t have been capturing the relevant images at all. On the 16 th February 2009, a new law, Section 76 of the Counter-Terrorism Act, was passed that prohibited members of the public taking photographs or recording video footage of members of the police or armed forces. However, protesters and citizen photojournalists defied that law on the 1 st April 2009 to record the police, and in particular, the group of police involved with the assault of Ian Tomlinson5. Within minutes, Ian Tomlinson had died of causes that, at the time of writing, are still being investigated. Almost as soon as the story broke, the illegally-recorded footage of the police became front page news both online and offline. Although this could be construed as a breach of ethics regarding the law, it was ultimately in the public interest to do so. In this instance, as Gillmor says, “we have to be ready to capture images when the pros aren’t around; even a poorly composed photo of a pivotal event is better than no picture at all.” (Gillmor (2004; p.131)) Whilst any picture of a news-worthy event is useful, if there are only limited methods of distribution their effectiveness is limited. To again refer back to Gillmor’s ideas on the subject, “It will soon be a no-brainer, I believe, for every news web site to prominently post an email address to which people can send their pictures, whether from phones or personal computers... In this way, they can get the public accustomed to using the medium in this manner. Then, when some big event occurs, the organization will have trained at least some people to use the posting service almost by reflex." (Gillmor (2004; p.121)) Within a year, Gillmor’s idea for furthering the conversation between mass media and their audience had been realised. One of the first major news organisations to introduce any kind of User Generated Content (UGC) hub was the BBC, and as it belongs to one of the leading online news websites it is also one of the most heavily used. The tsunami in Asia and the 7/7 bombings in London occurred prior to the BBC’s UGC hub going live. In spite of the relatively limited means of sending images to the BBC - strictly, at that point, via e-mail - they still received over a thousand cameraphone images on the morning of the 7/7 bombings, along with countless e-mails describing what was happening. Again, as with the case of the G20 protests, the citizen photojournalists were informing the news. Felicity Cowie, one of the core members of the BBC’s UGC hub, confirmed 19

this: The BBC initially reported the police line that there had been power surges on the Underground. But the emails and text messages soon began pouring into BBC inboxes, telling a very different story. "Email after email came in like nothing I'd ever seen before," recalls Cowie, who was working as a producer for BBC News 24 that morning. "There were emails saying ‘there are bodies all over the tracks at Aldgate' — really alarming stuff like that. We'd never factored in that the public would play such a massive role in breaking the story to us rather than us breaking the story to them." In a second wave of messages, the cameraphone pictures began arriving — including the now famous pictures of the roofless doubledecker at Tavistock Square. (Stabe (2006)) This is a familiar story for citizen journalism, as tip-offs and the provision of sources have long supplied the scoop for journalists - or if they break the story themselves on their own website or blog - but typically, photojournalists supplement the story rather than creating it. The first major story to break once the UGC hub went live was that of the Buncefield oil depot fire. Whilst the BBC had received around a thousand images of the London bombings, and a significant amount of eye-witness video footage, the Buncefield fire created more than ten times that amount within the first few hours (The BBC received a total of 15, 000 images and 20, 000 e-mails with text-based information on the fire (Eltringham (2006))). It also hinted towards the potential for citizen photojournalists to deliberately put themselves into some form of danger to acquire footage for the news - two members of the public, Andy Dicker and Andy Ash, both defied orders from the authorities (and guidelines on the BBC’s website stating that any budding citizen photojournalists were not supposed to break any laws or endanger themselves to acquire footage) to film the burning oil tanks from close-up. This is also occurring on an international scale; the recent shootings in a German school were filmed by members of the public and students, despite the obvious danger to themselves. As cited earlier, this “audience who may or may not be explicitly considered” (Ananny

and Strohecker (2002; p.2)) has begun to influence the work of citizen photojournalists in ways that, whilst they might provide better news coverage, are also endangering the lives of those who try and capture the footage. The other concern regarding citizen photojournalism is ethics. Fortunately, due to the nature of citizen photojournalism, accuracy and the threat of libel aren’t necessarily major factors. The accuracy of a photograph can of course be called into question, but hoax images are generally fairly well screened by news agencies, with the BBC only publishing one mis-representative image from their UGC hub - caused by an administrative error. Privacy, however, is a contentious issue. Gillmor expressed this in the following way: “Newsmakers, especially Hollywood stars and other celebrities, already loathe the “paparazzi” photographers who follow them around and snap pictures in unguarded moments. What will happen when 10 average citizens aim their phones at the stars and zap the images they take to their friends or to websites?” (Gillmor (2004; p.48)) There are two potential faults with this argument: Firstly, the paparazzi work tirelessly to capture photographs of celebrities at certain locations. Most paparazzi photos are not generated by chance, but through careful planning. The majority of citizen photojournalists are not pursuing celebrities in that manner, because - as we have seen - the majority of citizen photojournalism is a reactionary practise that occurs as a result of events happening by chance, rather than creating photo opportunities. Secondly, due to the laws concerning photography in public in the UK, it is not illegal to photograph someone if they are in a public space. The decision upon whether to feature a photograph that might raise an issue of privacy being breached is ultimately up to the editors of a news agency, and as will be discussed in the next chapter, if they don’t feel it will benefit their click-stream, they are unlikely to do so - blocking that particular path of sales for a citizen photojournalist. This tendency to operate based on popular stories is a relatively new one, as it is one that wasn’t easily performed in ‘off-line’ news, but it is increasingly shaping what makes news in the world. Whether it is a change for the good or the bad depends upon whether the most importance should be placed on stories that are written in the public interest, or ones that are written to be popular. It is a case of what the public ‘need’ to hear against what the public ‘want’ to hear, and the latter is being increasingly chosen by editors.

Chapter 4 - Professional Citizen Photojournalism? There is a term that has risen to prominence in the digital age - it is one that shapes the news we see, how the news is created and decides what type of news will be shown in the future. It is the click-stream. The click-stream is essentially the same as distribution figures for newspapers except in this instance it is rated on a story-by-story basis, rather than a publication as a whole. The physical representation of this data can be seen on many news (and indeed non-news) websites, generally in the form of a “Most Read” selection of stories. More recently, “Most commented” and “Most e-mailed” have begun to be used more frequently, yet the results of those can, as Currah points out, vastly differ: “It is estimated that only 1 per cent of website visitors actually interact with a news website; for example by uploading content or leaving a comment. There is a frequent disparity, moreover, between the ‘most read’ stories and the stories that attract the ‘most comments’.”

(Currah (2009; p.73))

It should be noted that the lack of

interaction so far by their audience has resulted in less expenditure for the various news organisations, as otherwise there would need to be more moderation of audience interactivity, be it moderation of comments or sifting through uploaded content. As Currah also notes, for example, “The Times has decided to outsource its web monitoring to a specialist firm, e-Moderation.” (Currah (2009; p.72)) In times when news agencies aren’t reaping the financial benefits of the online world fully, any expenditure is bad for business. The relevance of the click-stream to photojournalism, both amateur and professional, is that the click-stream is the key to where the money and resources will be used. Typically, the stories that rate highly in the click-stream are those that are based upon hard-hitting news stories, entertainment/celebrity based stories or nationally important stories - all for fairly obvious reasons. The key linking factor for the majority of these stories is that they are covered by professional photojournalists. To use a recent example, the recent Budget announced by the government featured heavily across all forms of media platform, yet the only photographers who had access to Downing Street were all professional photojournalists.

Similarly, stories reporting on

celebrities and other forms of entertainment news tend to be covered by professional 22

photojournalists. Citizen photojournalists are often involved in the more nationally important news as this frequently includes some form of incident in which citizen photojournalists may be the first on the scene, but these are in the minority. This has resulted in there being less emphasis placed on buying or indeed paying for citizen photojournalism. For example, the BBC - one of the largest users of UGC - has a strict no-fee rule regarding UGC. As Pete Clifton, editor of the BBC News website said on the matter: ““The BBC News site does not anticipate paying for these contributions,” he said. “My feeling is that the vast majority of people simply want to join in our newsgathering process and nobody has been talking in terms of making money when contacting us. If people can make money then good luck to them.”” (Unknown (2005)) There have been agencies dedicated to citizen photojournalists, such as the pioneering Scoopt, yet many of these have fallen by the wayside. Having been acquired by Getty Images, one of the largest photographic agencies in the world, Scoopt began to lose money and in the beginning of 2009, was closed down.

A Getty Images

spokeswoman stated in an interview with About The Image at the time of it’s closure that ““We definitely believe there is a demand for this type of material as an editorial product but there are so many other avenues out there right now for citizen photo journalists.”” (Phelps (2009)) It isn’t just citizen photojournalism image agencies that are finding generating revenue difficult - hyper local news sites based on citizen photojournalism are also struggling. One of the first hyper local news sites to gain fame was http://www.BackFence.com, which had to be shut down due to a lack of funds. The lack of money available in citizen photojournalism is definitely a key issue with it’s future, and one that stands between it taking over from professional photojournalism. In spite of the lack of money involved, there are still plenty of people willing to generate media for news agencies. Currah, somewhat cynically, raised the points in What’s Happening To Our News that “the rise of citizen journalism is being driven not only be technological possibility, but also by an array of other incentives; for example, the prospect of monetary rewards, the pursuit of self-expression, engagement with like-minded individuals, or the simple satisfaction of filling gaps in the news agenda.” (Currah (2009; p.71))

In spite of the closure of citizen journalism and 23

photojournalism related companies, the usage and contribution to hyper local news sites and the usage of sections of online news agency websites such as the BBC’s “Have Your Say”, The Guardian’s “Comment is Free” and The Observer’s “Comment” section (to name but three) are rising - although the majority are not-forprofit. Jeff Jarvis also appears to suggest in an interview with The Guardian that the desire for citizen journalists and photojournalists to break stories, and the participatory culture of the internet, might mean that exclusives are no longer delivered directly to news agencies: ““Online is all about sharing; old media is all about holding back,” says Jarvis. “Will citizen journalists decide not to share what they see so they can sell an exclusive to a paper or TV show? One needs to wonder whether the age of the exclusive is over, now that we live in a world where every witness can be a reporter.”” (Holliday (2005)) This does, to an extent, play into the hands of media organisations as it is, in Currah’s view, “a way for companies to profit from digital volunteerism on the web.” (Currah (2009; p.71)) Theoretically, this shift to a not-for-profit style of news photography could damage the working role of professional photojournalists, yet this isn’t necessarily the case. As Gillmor noted, “Will this threaten the professional photographers who capture images so well for news organizations today? I hope not. Their skills are far beyond mine and most other amateurs.” (Gillmor (2004; p.131)) It isn’t just their skill that places them at an advantage; access, experience and trust from the public are also key allies for them. There is, of course, a large emphasis on ‘ethics’ and ‘trust’ when discussing citizen journalism and citizen photojournalism, and it is this trust that photojournalists possess. As early as 1992, Mitchell noted that ““[Press photographers] initiated annual conferences to explore the implications of digital technology, and the president of the National Press Photographer's Association gave voice to their growing alarm: 'Photographers, editors and publishers need to speak out unequivocally and say 'NO!' to the abuses that can and will creep into newsrooms as the use of digital photo technology becomes widespread... We cannot use this technology to tell lies, no matter how tempting or easy.’” (Mitchell (1992; p.16)) This is also touched upon by Ananny and Strohecker: “Their images are their 24

principal means of both communicating stories and preserving this trust. If they were to routinely manipulate photos or adopt obviously biased stances, their credibility with their employers and audiences would be damaged.” (Ananny & Strohecker (2002; p.7)) In relation to citizen photojournalism, this is a potential issue, but not one that is noted all that frequently as - for the most part - there is little point in fabricating a hoax story as many news agencies won’t pay for the story, and those that will are likely to discover that it’s a hoax before allowing the story to run. However, digital manipulation is only one aspect of the abuse of trust - professional photojournalists are constantly trying to create a photograph that describes a whole scene, as impartially as possible. This can, at times, be a facet of photojournalism that can be - intentionally or unintentionally - neglected by citizen photojournalists. It is a skill that can only be developed through experience and practise, which the majority of the ‘witness’ citizen photojournalists will not be able to gain. To again quote Ananny and Strohecker, “People are familiar with taking snap-shots and viewing images in a variety of media but they rarely practice complex skills associated with visual composition and critique.” (Ananny & Strohecker (2002; p.2)) As they also mention, learning these skills is a time-consuming skill, so not only would the average citizen photojournalist not have as much chance to document news, but they would also - as they aren‘t full time photographers - lack the time required to dedicate to learning their craft. “Indeed, the professional photojournalist struggling to capture a scene or perspective likely learned her craft through a combination of formal instruction, apprenticeship, quiet observation, reflection, experimentation with tools and techniques and many, many mistakes.” (Ananny & Strohecker (2002a; p.2)) The aim of the conferences that Ananny and Strohecker held were to try and find a method for professional photojournalists and citizen photojournalists to come together to create new working methods for each other, and to help assess the future of photojournalism.

As proven in that article, with the numbers of citizen

photojournalists increasing, professional photojournalists are required to help maintain the high standards of photography expected in the news industry. This can be done in the form of networked journalism, which is essentially an advanced form of the “Have Your Say”/”Opinion Is Free” style of citizen journalism. In this model widely accepted by most media theorists - journalists and photojournalists are required by their newsrooms to be more multi-skilled, and therefore to help with 25

collating, verifying and editing stories and images, as well as using the raw UGC sent to the newsroom as leads for creating stories of their own. To quote Currah, “As they embark upon the path to integration, news publishers are realising that they need to cultivate a set of operational assets - oriented around multi-skilled journalists and integrated technology platforms.” (Currah (2009; p.111)) Although this might be seen as aiding the competition in one sense - by arming the citizen photojournalists with the experience and techniques required for professional standards of photojournalism - it is, at the same time, increasing the quality of output of the company that the professional photojournalists would be working for, thus increasing the funding for them to cover more important stories that are considered more newsworthy. Similarly, a reflection on their own practice could also help develop their own skills, as well as drawing inspiration from others. Currah summarised the concept of networked journalism best in What’s Happening To Our News in the following way: The implication is that in a more networked and transparent form, which harnesses the knowledge and experience of a varied base of stake-holders, journalism might be able to craft more accurate, meaningful and powerful stories about the world. In that form, news publishers might be able to forge new connections with their audiences; and citizens may be able to make more informed decisions about their life and how best to participate in a democratic society. (Currah (2009; p.75)) Although referring in that instance in more general terms to journalism, it’s undeniable that the working methods and practices he suggests would benefit photojournalism equally well, as photojournalism now, due to the ease of access for the majority, is now in the same stage as journalism was when blogging and internet usage by private citizens allowed them to document news in their own way. Even though currently professional photojournalists are able to enjoy a news network in which they are still favoured over citizen photojournalists for the majority of situations, the ever-changing and unpredictable nature of technological development and social change means that the situation could easily be reversed in the not too distant future unless action is taken now to safeguard not just the future of professional photojournalism, but the future of photojournalism too. 26

Chapter 5 - Conclusion As stated in the introduction to this project, the joint aims of this essay were to discover how the world of journalism has been changed by citizen journalism and citizen photojournalism, and secondly how citizen photojournalism was affecting the role of the professional photojournalist. What is key to note at this stage is that the change to journalism from the end of the 20th Century to the beginning of the 21st Century was as a result of a serendipitous series of events, as opposed to one fundamental change. The convergence of new media played a key part, naturally, as it facilitated the practical aspects of contemporary journalism. All the new facets of journalism referenced - interactive television, the internet, all forms of computer hardware from desk-top PCs to laptops, all the variations of mobile phone technology - have allowed the expansion of journalism’s new role as a form of conversation between the media companies and the general public. The change to a ‘Pull’ media configuration would only be possible with the multi-platform technology available now. It is important to note though, as Currah does, that “plotting the future of citizen journalism - and how it relates to professional journalism - is inherently difficult because of constant changes in its social and technological morphology.” (Currah (2009; p.74)) By this, he suggest that, as with the creation of citizen journalism and photojournalism through a confluence of technology, changes in public attitudes and the development of the internet, the future could change equally as drastically. However, in spite of it’s inclusiveness and it’s ability to deliver more news to more people, there have been negative affects on the news industry. The decision to create more entertainment articles and features focussing on celebrities, ’personalities’ and so on have cheapened the news media, risking it’s former position as being the main, authoritative source on the events of the world.

With the inclusion of citizen

journalists in the creation of news, the decisions for what makes news is now not exclusively with the editorial staff at a news company, but with the citizen journalists too. As such, it is up to these people to shape the future of news in the direction that the rest of the public want.

Similarly, citizen photojournalists have a duty to try and report what they see as being important, news-worthy events. As referred to in this essay, citizen photojournalism breaks down the barriers of literacy, age and any other factors that might dissuade or render people unable to participate in conventional, written journalism. The camera is a very egalitarian tool. This means that there is now the potential for more news to be uncovered, simply because more people are able to document it. As with the case of the death of Ian Tomlinson, without citizen photojournalists, the true circumstances of his death would’ve been reduced to a few spoken statements, and would not have created the uproar that the images of his altercation with the police have. It is, of course, important to note that the actions they undertook were technically illegal (for reasons discussed earlier), and that the consideration of the law and the need to uphold the traditional ethics held by the media must prevail, but there is still - within this framework - scope for citizen photojournalists to create and direct news stories that are important on both a local, national and international level. At present, it seems that there is a divide between the citizen photojournalists who are aiming to make some form of money from their work, and those who aren’t. To refer back to previous examples from incidences such as the Buncefield oil depot fire, thousands of images were sent to the BBC to be used without demanding any form of payment. Similarly, citizen photojournalist’s work can be ‘spotted’ online on various photo-sharing websites and can be requested by news companies, often free of charge. However, there are various agencies that act as a mediator between the news companies and citizen photojournalists. As seen from the closure of Scoopt, a former citizen photojournalism agency, it would seem that the agencies, and the citizen photojournalists who use them, are between a rock and a hard place - if there is free content available, then news companies are going to prefer to use them if possible, but similarly if there is no free content, then news agencies are likely to pay for higher quality footage/photography as better coverage should - in theory - generate more hits. The cost of the item therefore isn’t necessarily the be-all and end-all. As noted in chapter 4, newsrooms are now aiming to cover stories that will generate more hits and therefore more revenue - so the decisions on where to focus the resources available to the editors in the form of money for content and to pay for journalists to cover stories will largely decide which content will be used.

Similarly, the roles of citizen photojournalists and professional photojournalists don’t often overlap. Citizen photojournalists generally cover local or hyper-local news; this is work that professional photojournalists often don’t cover as, simply, there is often too much for it to be possible to cover. Hyper-local news can often generally be seen as not being appealing enough for a wider audience, and therefore the resources required to allocate professional journalists and photojournalists will not be granted. For the key stories, and the larger, heavy-hitting news stories, professional photojournalists will almost always be the ones at the scene, as they will often have the prior knowledge, required access and experience to capture the stories in a suitable manner. As a result, we can see that in the modern, digital newsroom there is ample room for both citizen and professional photojournalism to co-exist, and with the potential new strategies of networked journalism being used by news companies, they can in fact both help each other to prosper.

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Gillmor, D. (2004), WeTheMedia. http://oreilly.com/catalog/wemedia/book/ (Last accessed 27/04/09) Glaser, M. (2005), “Did London bombings turn citizen photojournalists into citizen paparazzi?”, Online Journalism Review, 12th July. http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050712glaser/ (Last accessed: 23/04/09) Hargreaves, I. (2003), Journalism: Truth or Dare?, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hill, M. (2001), The Impact of Information on Society, K.G.Saur: Munich. Holliday, G. (2005), “Citizen Scoops”, The Guardian, 4th August. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2005/aug/04/pressandpublishing.newmedia (Last accessed: 30/04/09) Kakabadse N.K. & A. K. (2000), Creating Futures: Leading Change Through Information Systems, Aldershot: Ashgate. Luft, O. (2007), “BBC UGS News hub goes 24/7”, Journalism.co.uk, 12th September. http://www.journalism.co.uk/2/articles/530552.php (Last accessed: 22/04/09) Martin, W. (1995), Global Information Society, London: Gower. McGuire, T. (2007), “Ethics and the business of journalism go well together”, McGuire on Media, 9th October. http://cronkite.asu.edu/mcguireblog/?p=24 (Last accessed: 29/04/09) MDA (2009), “Q4 2008 UK Mobile Trends Report”, Mobile Data Association, 13th February. http://www.text.it/press_release.cfm (Last accessed 25/04/09) Mitchell, W. (1992) The Reconfigured Eye. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Phelps, B. (2009), “Getty Images closes citizen journalism photo agency Scoopt”, About The Image, 4th February. http://www.abouttheimage.com/4041/getty_images_closes_citizen_journalism_photo 31

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Appendix. 1. A screen-capture of the BBC News home-page, showing the range of news on offer due to it’s multi-layered, hyper-link based design.

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk (Last accessed: 30/04/09) 2. An example of the more celebrity/entertainment driven news from tabloid-based press. In this instance, an article published in TheLondonPaper featuring U.S. President Barack Obama’s pet dog.

Unknown (2009), “Bo Misses His Master”, TheLondonPaper, Tuesday 28th April, p.7. 3. The Pulitzer Prize winning feature photograph taken by Kevin Carter of a starving Sudanese girl. 33

Source: jj2570a.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/2077028.jpg (Last accessed: 29/04/09) 4. A photograph used by The Telegraph from a professional photojournalist documenting the G20 demonstrations on the 1st April 2009.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01376/rbswindow-smash_1376847i.jpg (Last accessed: 29/04/09) 5. Ian Tomlinson’s death (after being involved in a fracas with the police) is part of an on-going investigation being undertaken by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, yet it’s a story that might not have been as widely covered and followed 34

by the mass media were it not for citizen photojournalist items such as the following image of Ian Tomlinson taken by Anna Weaver. This image was used on the front cover of The Guardian having been purchased from Demotix.com, an agency for citizen photojournalists to sell their work through.

Source: http://www.demotix.com/news/man-collapses-and-dies-during-g20-protests (Last accessed: 29/04/09