Freelance Photojournalists and Photo Editors

Abstract

Since 2005, journalism has experienced a series of seismic changes due to economic factors, technological changes, and shifting priorities and news values. Photojournalism has been particularly affected by technology and business model changes, leading more outlets to rely on often geographically remote freelancers at the expense of dedicated photo staffs. These remote working environments and the mediated communication they necessitate have profound impacts for photojournalists’ development, roles, and responsibilities. Through in-depth interviews with photo editors and freelancers at top media outlets in the United States and guided by professional socialization, mentoring, and learning theories, this study explores what happens when the photojournalist–editor relationship is strained, mediated, or severed. It also seeks to examine what impact mediated interactions have on photographers’ learning and the quality of the media they produce. The findings reveal that the post-digital freelance model is more linear than the hierarchical staffer model and has a positive influence on workforce diversity, albeit at the expense of freelancers’ professional development and their opportunities to receive feedback from editors.

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KEYWORDS:

• freelance
• freelance photojournalist
• mediated communication
• photo editor feedback
• photojournalism
• photojournalist development
• virtual work environments

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks to Missouri School of Journalism professors Keith Greenwood, Ryan Thomas, and Yong Volz, each of whom kindly and generously reviewed an earlier version of this paper prior to the peer-review process. Thanks also to the two anonymous reviewers who improved the study through their insightful comments and to the dozens of participants who shared their experiences with me for inclusion in the study.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 According to a Wall Street Journal photo editor interviewed for the study.

2 See Appendix C for a description of the visual departments at each media outlet.

3 Respondents were randomly assigned numbers to ensure confidentiality. See Appendices A and B for generic descriptions of the respondents’ demographic characteristics.