JOUR5370 :: Documentary Photography

Everything I knew about journalism has blown up, it’s just gone. And I don’t know how to put it back together again.

So my options are to sit in a corner and cry, to abandon my beloved journalism and go do something more profitable or to figure it out.

If you’re in this class, you already know my answer. What’s yours?

It’s January 2009 as I write this. I’m sitting in my office, four days before you come back to campus. Four days before we meet again. Four days before I have to figure out what you need to know so I can figure out what to teach you. And how.

I need to know how. And what. What is important. But why … WHY is more important.

Here’s what I know right now:

• Newspapers are dying. Or so they tell me, even through they’re still running profit margins that are in the same range as Exxon. Television stations are reportedly in worse shape, so take comfort in that.
• “Readers” aren’t there anymore. There are more people who could be readers, and there’s certainly more news. But they’re not putting on their fuzzy slippers and walking to the end of the driveway. Heck, in Detroit, four days out of the week there won’t even be anything there.
• Video is big. Go look around YouTube. Yeah, most of it is junk, but there are occasional nuggets worth watching. Or so I’ve been told.
• News organizations (note, not newspapers) want to hire people who can still tell stories.
• “Citizen journalism” is probably not Journalism. It’s important, it can be useful, but it is not journalism.
• If we make news relevant people will pay attention to it. You’d think that would be obvious, but how many examples of irrelevant journalism can you bring to the first day of class?

Mull all of that over and we’ll get to the idea of why this is important. It’s something we’ll talk about every time we meet - whether in the classroom, on a street corner or in the produce aisle of Publix. And if I forget to ask why something is important, you need to do it.

If you talked to someone who took this class in the past, ignore everything they said. I taught this class in 2006 and 2007 and didn’t like the way it went. Someone else taught it in 2008. So, for 2009, we’re gutting it. We’re building a new class. We’re adding new technology and new ways of telling stories and new mediums and new partners.

There will be photos. There will be audio. There will be video. There will be online and print presentations. There will be laughter and tears, too.

Rough Sketches of Our Work

The Spring Workshop

Ink it in - March 6-8 will be our Fourth Annual UGA Photojournalism Weekend Workshop. Because we’re never happy, we’re doing it completely differently this year - instead of shooting projects, start to finish, that weekend the visiting editors will take a look at what you’ve done on your projects so far, offer suggestions and then help make the next steps. It may be shooting with you for a while, it may be helping you with technical stuff.

Technicalities

Deadlines are sacred in the news business. Therefore, any assignment not turned in by the assigned deadline will not be accepted. For assignments with electronic submissions, please budget your time accordingly.

Grady College is a “professional” school and professionalism is expected in this class. Attendance is mandatory, for as in the real world, work is done by those who show up. Not showing up for class will greatly affect your ability to succeed. Each unexcused absence will result in a one-half letter grade reduction in your final grade. Any student who does not show up for the first class will be dropped. Photojournalism takes commitment – commitment of time, commitment of mind. Nowhere is it written, or implied, that if you come to class and do the minimum amount of work, you will master the material.

Every image must have a caption attached to it. The majority of your assignments will be submitted electronically and those images need to have a full, Associated Press-style caption attached to it that includes contact information for you and your subjects.

Supplies & Equipment

You will have the opportunity to borrow a digital camera kit for the semester. Each student will be fully responsible for any equipment checked out from the college. We will go over the procedures and requirements in class.

You will need to purchase Compact Flash memory card for use throughout the semester. Recommendations will be made in class, but plan on having at least 2 GB of storage. It is not advisable to store anything on the lab computers – they are not backed-up and they are not protected. Take everything home with you, every night.

Because so much of the class will deal with video, I am highly recommending (though not requiring) that you purchase a portable, bus powered FireWire hard drive. Either FireWire 400 or 800 will work, but a USB drive will not work. Look for something that’s at least 160 GB and a 7200 RPM speed. (Other World Computing is a good source.)

We will use Journalism 2.0, by Mark Briggs, for our textbook, which is a free PDF for you to download and read. I would also strongly recommend the following for inspiration and information:

• Multimedia Journal, by Richard Koci Hernandez
  
• Final Cut Pro 6: Visual Quickpro Guide, by Lisa Brenneis
  

As this is a shooting class, you must bring your equipment every week. In-class exercises and shooting assignments will happen. Be prepared.

Boilerplate

The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary.

All academic work must meet the standards contained in “A Culture of Honesty.” Each student is responsible for informing themselves about these standards before performing any academic work.

The only reason readers continue to support newspapers is because they believe they are credible. All work done for this course must be your own and done this semester. If you are assisted during a shoot, it is advisable to note such help in your captions.

The Disability Resource Center provides academic services to eligible students who have a documented physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more life activities. Students with a disability or health-related issue who need a class accommodation should make an appointment to speak with the instructor as soon as possible.