March 1, 2023 Newsletter

Mar 2, 2023 | Uncategorized

Andrew Dolph

#NEWS – It’s all local

What happened in the industry this month?

#ONPA MATTERS

***The ONPA Board of Trustees is seeking a qualified applicant to take over the recently vacated position of Secretary. Interested applicants should be an ONPA member in good standing, familiar with industry trends, and social media savvy. The ONPA is a nonprofit organization and as such, all Board positions are volunteer.

Please forward a letter of interest and résumé to Board President, Andrew Dolph at: onpaprez@gmail.com

1/ 2022 ONPA Contest season has wrapped up, and staff at The Blade cleaned house. Way to go Blade family!

2/ If you haven’t already done so, please give a listen to Lori King’s interview with Shane Flanigan, over on The Buckeye Visualist. Listen as they discuss news deserts and hometown coverage voids; how he braced for the possibility of being laid off since his graduation from Kent State in 2013; why he thinks being a generalist shooter is a good thing; what he plans on entering in the ONPA contest this year; and what his future plans are … now that he’s unemployed.

3/ We are exactly one month away from the ONPA Convention! Space is limited, so please register if you have not already done so.

REGISTER FOR CONVENTION

 

#OTHER MATTERS

1/ I’m seeing an upward trend of emerging independent news organizations, and it is very encouraging.

For some insider analysis, from Inside Philanthropy, click here.

“In other words, it takes money — specifically for capacity-building — to make money. And even though they’re not in it to make a profit, nonprofit outlets that want to keep the lights on need to be attuned to the bottom line.”

Take note: none that I’ve looked at to date are employing a visuals staff, relying instead on handouts, reporters, and freelancers. In no particular order, here’s a running list:

  • The Houston Landing is an independent, nonpartisan news organization devoted to public service journalism that seeks to strengthen democracy and improve the lives of all Houstonians one story at a time. Peter Bhatia, formerly of The Cincinnati Enquirer is the CEO, while Marie D. De Jesús, the first Latina president of the National Press Photographers Association, is photo editor.
  • The Coronado News is a 24-hour news website and direct mail weekly newspaper, coming soon to the Crown City (Coronado, Calif). According to their website, “The newspaper is led by Craig Harris, who begins his 32nd year in journalism and most recently worked at USA TODAY as a business investigative reporter. Harris was the lead writer when The Arizona Republic of the USA TODAY Network was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s most prestigious honor.”
  • Rogue Valley Tribune is a re-brand several times over in Medford, Oregon. “When Gatehouse came to town, they told us, ‘We know you can’t do more with less. So, we’re going to do less with less.’”
  • Signal Cleveland the recently launched non-profit newsroom, has announced plans for an Akron newsroom dedicated to that city. The startup boasts $5m in funding raised for Akron to date. The recent startup is part of a growing number of independent and nonprofits popping up state and nation wide.

    The start of Signal Akron follows an information needs assessment conducted by American Journalism Project that found many Northeast Ohio residents do not feel they have adequate, relevant, and accessible information about their communities and the decisions that impact their daily lives.

    In a recent Tweet, they say, “Thanks to support from [The Knight Foundation] @KnightFdn and community leaders who want to see strong local news in Akron, the 11-person newsroom is expected to launch later this year.”

2/ Our friends at PhotoMechanic are celebrating the 25th anniversary of release and implementation of the industry standard software which.

3/ Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist J. Ross Baughman says he was conned in dealer’s $1.6m art fraud scheme.

“She was willing to take advantage of me,” Baughman told the Times, saying Beard “had taken my life’s work—all of these very fun, sentimental personal artefacts.” In 2021, Baughman lost the part of his collection still in his possession in an apartment fire that also destroyed nearly one million photo negatives and transparencies, he told the Times.

4/ WHEN IS A PHOTO NOT A PHOTO? THE LOOMING SPECTER OF ARTIFICIALLY GENERATED PHOTOGRAPHS

Much is at stake, including an informed citizenry.

5/ Six weekly newspapers in Northeast Ohio will cease print publication in March.

6/ Plain Dealer Publishing will begin printing The Buffalo News later this year. That’s a 3.5 hour drive. Those deadlines are about to get a little frustrating and a lot tighter.

7/ It’s the end of the road for SportsShooter. What a ride.

8/ Melissa Lyttle has an important post on her SubStack, fullstop, about freelancing. Please give it a read, here.

#PEOPLE

Reports of people in the industry on the move – lot’s of losses this month

1/ We lost a household name from the freelance community. You can Google Jason Hirschfield, a long-time freelancer for the Virginia-Pilot. Beyond the tragic reporting of his untimely death, what emerges in imagery is some instantly recognizable work. Set aside some time with his website. He produced some wonderful work.

2/ ONPA Secretary Gaelen Morse is moving on to work in another state.On behalf of the Board, I thank him (and his partner) for tireless work to help get the upcoming convention where it is today. Take a look at how he has been reflecting upon time spent living and working in Ohio in his Twitter feed.

3/ Joyce Dopkeen, Barrier-Breaking News Photographer, Dies at 80 In 1973, she was the first woman hired by The New York Times to be a full-time staff photographer.

4/ Tom Hubbard, long-time ONPA member, photojournalist and professor passed September 2, 2022.

Thank you to Kim Barth and Bob DeMay for putting this together. It can also be read, viewed and shared on the ONPA website.

“Hubbard, 91, started his photography career in television at WLWA in Atlanta then worked as a still photographer in Atlanta before joining the staff at the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1966.

After leaving the Enquirer in 1979 he became a professor and mentor to many at The Ohio State University where he taught for 16 years.

While on assignment for the Enquirer, Tom met Ingrid, his wife of 54 years. They shared countless adventures together and were the parents of numerous four-legged-fur-babies.

Hubbard wore many hats serving ONPA over the years and was presented the Robert S. Carson Award in 1994. Hubbard was the still contest chairman for many years hosting the judging at Ohio State, back when contest entries were prints on boards. He and his wife Ingrid served as newsletter editors for many years as well. At one point he also served as vice president.

Tom remained creative after retirement and started producing, Digital Art, or computer painting. He said in a video produced in 2014 by his friend and photojournalist for the Columbus Dispatch, Doral Chenoweth, “…Our culture is noisy and needs a little time for reflection. I’m hoping a piece of my art on a wall will give people time for reflection…”

Yes, we all need time for reflection. Thank you Tom.”

View the video by Columbus Dispatch staff photographer Doral Chenoweth explaining Tom’s art.

5/ Lizzie Heintz left her staff job at The Toledo Blade in December for a job at a weekly in Maine. That position is now officially open. Here’s the details, courtesy Kurt Steiss:

The Blade is hiring a staff photographer.

“FULL-TIME JOB – STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER – THE BLADE – TOLEDO, OHIO

The Blade of Toledo, Ohio, has an opening for a staff photographer in the photography department. The successful candidate will work in a fast paced environment and shoot all types of daily assignments for The Blade and toledoblade.com. This is a stills-oriented position though video work will be required. The Blade provides camera and computer equipment. You must have a car, a valid driver’s license, and clean driving record.

Further information and an online application can be found here:

https://career4.successfactors.com/sfcareer/jobreqcareer…

Please also submit a portfolio or portfolio website link, and a resume, as soon as possible to:

Dave Zapotosky, Chief Photographer

The Blade

541 North Superior Street

Toledo, OH 43660

Email: davezap@theblade.com

6/ Mandy Jenkins has died after a four year battle with cancer. Although she was not a photographer, if you have worked in Ohio for an extended period of time she was a newsroom leader at the Enquirer and Mahoning Matters, among others. Here’s her obit. Anna Huntsman at IdeaStream also wrote a wonderful memorial.

#INSPIRATIONS and #RESOURCES

Helpful things

1/ Women Photograph offers an exclusive service wherein editors can request access to an advanced private database with even more info about our members: contact information, languages spoken, and additional demographic data.

2/ Edith Honan, features editor at Insider, has launched something special for photographers: a webpage called Photo Essays, a showcase for photography with the photographer’s narration — in one place. She says in a Tweet, “ … we let photographers have a turn as writers. It gives them space to present their work in a way that’s usually confined to exhibitions, books, and interviews about their work. It can make for great journalism.”

3/ Kent Porter is going through 30+ years of his wildfire archive from California.

4/ The Blade’s Becca Benson covered the aftermath of the shooting at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, February 15. You can see her IG post here.

5/ Ryan Loew was on assignment in East Palestine for Ideastream Public Media (WKSU/WCPN, Cleveland). You can view the story, with reporting from Abigail Bottar, here. Ryan is a KSU grad and Youngstown native, currently on staff at PUBLICSOURCE, a non-profit journalism organization in Pittsburgh. You can view his IG feed here.

6/ We are all going through things.

Hearst learned its journalists were struggling. It enlisted a therapist to help.

Stressed, burnt out and sick of therapists who didn’t understand them, San Francisco Chronicle journalists asked for help — and got it.

7/ Ouch!

8/ I’m fawning over this recent work from Steph Chambers, a Getty staffer based in Seattle, on America’s oldest sled dog race, in Ahston, Idaho.
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