Photojournalism and Today's News

Photojournalism and Today's News provides a practical guide for aspiring photojournalists as well as an intelligent look into newsroom culture and its influences on photographic assignments, production, and editing. Written by an award-winning photo editor and director of photography, and based on interviews with more than seventy high-profile journalists, this book appeals to students and young professionals alike.

• Addresses a wide range of practical issues supported by in-depth examples from the field and critical thinking about photography, journalism, and newsroom culture
• Examines social and cultural issues and how they are communicated through photojournalism
• Prepares young journalists to respect their visual journalism colleagues by teaching them how to effectively work together
• Highlights the expectations of the newsroom and editors

List of Illustrations.

Acknowledgments.

Foreword.

Introduction.

1. Brief History of Photojournalism in the United States.

2. The Visual Newspaper.

3. Construction of Reality.

4. Newsroom Culture and Routines.

5. Economics.

6. Ethics.

7. Relationships: Photographer and Subject.

8. Iraq Wars.

9. Webs and Blogs.

10. Conclusion.

Index

"The critique is well argued and firmly rooted in the work of Roland Barthes, Susan Sontag, Arthur Asa Berger and other philosophers and semioticians who have looked critically at visual mass media. ... The practical advice and lessons about best practices will be exceptionally valuable to anyone—student or recent graduate—who wants to improve and succeed in the profession of photojournalism. (Global Media Journal, Autumn, 2009)

"A well balanced introduction to the medium of photojournalism. While important ideals are explored in depth, and 'best practice' encouraged, Langton lends a certain pragmatism to the way in which the work is carried out in the real world. This balance is very helpful for any person with aspirations towards a career in photojournalism." (M/C Reviews, April 2009)

Loup Langton currently serves as director of the visual journalism program at the University of Miami's School of Communication. Photojournalism and Today's News provides an intelligent and practical look at photojournalism and the newsroom. Remarkable in its breadth and clarity, Langton's book is an essential guide for aspiring photojournalists and young professionals to newsroom culture and how that culture influences photographic assignments, production, and editing. It also explores the relationships formed between photographers and their subjects, and it considers ethical issues, changes brought about by on-line publications, and visual reportage from Iraq. In a field all too often dominated by strictly "how-to" books, Langton provides an inviting mix of practical issues supported by in-depth examples from the field and critical thinking. Written by an award-winning photo editor and director of photography, and based on interviews with more than seventy high-profile journalists, the book will appeal to undergraduates and young professionals alike. "Loup Langton’s new book raises valuable questions about the ethics, history, economics, politics, and culture of the newsroom, addressing issues that are profoundly consequential to today’s turbulent media environment, and offering trenchant observations about the impact of these realities on visual journalists." Tom Kennedy, photo editor and former director of photography at National Geographic

"In a time of professional uncertainty, Loup Langton treats his readers to lessons that transcend the concerns of budgets and delivery systems. He reminds us that the foundation of great stories is the relationships between journalist and subject." Rob Finch, photojournalist

"Many of us take for granted the visual images that are served up with our daily dose of journalism. Loup Langton’s lucid book tells us where photojournalism comes from – culturally, technologically, and philosophically. At its best, photojournalism is a sophisticated and subtle craft, little understood by outsiders; Langton gives us the insider’s tour." John Carroll, former editor of the LA Times, Knight Visiting Professor to Harvard