Vol. 166, Issue 5 | Oct. 24 – Nov. 7, 2018 | City College of San Francisco | Since 1935 | FREE
In the Line of Fire journalists discuss photographing war
Department chairs voice concerns about Education Master Plan By Patrick Cochran pcochran@theguardsman.com
“I am not here to provide bodies for your photographs, he said.” — Kim Komenich
Lou Dematteis, a San Francisco based photojournalist and filmmaker, speaks about reporting and photographing in Nicaragua during the 1985–1990 U.S.backed Contra war during City College's Journalism Matters month on Oct.19, 2018. The stack of books in front of him are titled “Nicaragua: A Decade of Revolution,” published in 1991. Photo by Cliff Fernandes/ The Guardsman
By Cliff Fernandes cferna44@mail.ccsf.edu
Pulitzer prize-winning photojournalist Kim Komenich talks about the responsibilities of a war photographer during the time when he was embedded into the military as a part of City College’s Journalism Matter month on Oct. 19, 2018. Photo by Cliff Fernandes/ The Guardsman
during the height of the U.S.-backed Contra War. In 1986, his photographs of U.S. mercenary Eugene Hasenfus being captured received international recognition and inclusion in The New York Times’ and National Press Photographers Association’s Pictures of the Year.
Cool evening winds hit the walls of a bungalow classroom where eager guests attended the war photojournalist panel “In The Line of Fire” on Oct. 19. Weathered photojournalists Kim Komenich The Journalist’s Role and Lou Dematteis sat at the head of the room behind a stack of thick photo-story books As technology and social media bring showcasing their coverage of mid-’90s war images worldwide into the spotlight almost zones. Moderated by war journalist and author instantly, it is more important now than before Mary Jo McConahay, the two guest speak- for journalists to understand what makes them ers discussed why they believed journalism different from most people who snap photos matters, now more than ever. with their phones, Komenich said. Photojournalism is about putting a face “We’re not just out there to do the write up on the events happening around the world, of the day. We’re out there to cover people’s Komenich said. It’s about taking the conflicts lives and what it’s like growing up in poverty,” happening overseas that get broadcasted on TV, Komenich said. and introducing the human element. He raised above his head a black-andBe it domestically or internationally, white image of a woman and a girl next to Dematteis said that an ethical press covers a some tombstones. story to document the truth. The objectiv“This was a family that lives in the cemetery ity journalists strive for should not be about in Manilla, right next to the Wall Street of presenting two opposing arguments — it means Philippines,” he said. finding the truth, he said. For him, that meant He revisited them as well as others in his exposing the U.S. government’s claim that photos decades later, and learned that the girl Nicaragua was a threat during the Reagan Era. in his picture would have her own family and “It was the poorest country I had ever continue to live in the same cemetery. In the been in, and [it was] a ridiculous claim that same vein, Dematteis decided early on that this country could somehow militarily threaten he would return to Ecuador in 1993 and the United States, so as soon as I got there, I continue photographing the Texaco corporaknew the story that should be told is not being tion’s oil exploitation and pollution well after the told,” Dematteis said. mainstream media had left. Dematteis spent six years in Nicaragua The panel said that the news media’s
unfavorable reputation will make people, especially authorities, even more resistant to working with the press. They referenced specific attempts from the military to control what gets published, and agencies using reported content to inject their own agenda. They explained the importance of sticking with a story. Documenting people, war and poverty is a process that people unfamiliar with journalism may not be aware of, Komenich said. When he needed a press pass to do coverage in San Salvador, he went to authorities for clearance and entered a room where a man was stamping papers. “‘I just want you to know something — I am not here to provide bodies for your photographs,’” Komenich recalled the man saying. “And he looked me right in the eyes and almost cried. I was just another guy to him, out to get pictures of dead Salvadorians.” The guest speakers said that despite people’s attempts to control the publication of information, it remains essential to show the public what happens as it is and to leave it to viewers to decide how to respond. Komenich added that organizations have been built to support the people that they saw suffering, such as a starving boy he photographed in the Philippines. The journalist’s job, he said, is to just show things as they are. “It seemed obvious that there’s a strong connection with ethics, empathy and the importance of what you put in the work you do, and that really talked to me,” said Celine Wallace, who follows Dematteis’s work.
CRADLE WILL ROCK CULTURE - PAGE 4 MEET STUDENT TRUSTEE, MAX HIRSCHFELD OPINION - PAGE 6
City College has progressed with its Education Master Plan (EMP), and some department chairs feel that they are not being heard. A listening session was held to hear their concerns, but the forum did little to alleviate their worries. The EMP is the college’s longrange blueprint for institutional and program development. To help shape it, a series of listening sessions were held for the college’s constituency groups throughout October. The EMP is a crucial part of Vision 90, which sets goals for the college through 2025, City College’s 90th anniversary. The plan must answer to key issues concerning development and funding. “The Education Master Plan will be reviewed annually in conjunction with resource and support plans such as the Facility Master Plan, Technology Plan, Student Success and Support Program Plan, and Student Equity Plan,” the college’s Media Relations Director Connie Chan said. Some staff, including former and current faculty chairs, feel that ideas proposed for the EMP gloss over important issues and instead move full-steam ahead on ideas such as faculty housing, which some call unrealistic and impractical. Judy Hubbell, who recently retired as the dean of continuing studies for seniors, expressed concern that individual departments are understaffed. She said that the college is not investing enough resources in programs for senior learners, and that Vision 90 will overlook the department. “Everybody is part time,” Hubbell said. “I worked an 80-hour work week but was only paid for six. No secretary, no administrative aid, no help, nothing. So the person coming in now may face the same thing. We have 35 faculty, 75 class, 27 sites at five campuses, and there is no way I can do that without help.” EMP continued on page 3