The lens is mightier...

With print journalism on the decline, how many words is a picture going to be worth?

Is it only a matter of time before the laptop replaces the broadsheet at the Sunday breakfast table?

Are editors going to be more worried about what's above the fold or what's above the scroll bar?

With most of the media in a transitional phase, is there still room for the talent that has carried the workload through the past media generation?

The real question is, can we formulate a statement about the future of journalism that doesn't end in a question mark?

My first impulse is to say 'run away'

In nearly three decades as a news photographer, Janet Worne has seen her profession steadily evolve and endure countless changes.

But with newspapers on an augural decline and the future of news media in a state of limbo, Worne finds herself struggling to stay optimistic.

"It's hard not to get very depressed and angry and cynical about the future of photojournalism," Worne says. "When (photographers I mentor) write me, my first impulse is to say 'run away.'"

A mother of two, Worne re-married in 2007 and moved to Albuquerque from Lexington, Ky., leaving behind her job of 18 years as a staff photographer at the Lexington Herald Leader. While the complete change of scenery was a daunting proposition, Worne says she was ready to leave a post that had fallen by the wayside.

Photo courtesy of Janet Worne

Janet Worne (center) works as a photo editor during the 2008 running of the Kentucky Derby. After 18 years at the Lexington Herald Leader, Worne chose to leave a profession that felt had changed for the worse.

"By the time I left the Herald Leader, it just wasn't fun anymore," she says. "Everything had changed so much. It had become sort of a bottom line thing -- more about selling advertising, much less about telling a story."

In part, Worne is right. Advertising has become the driving force of the print media as circulation numbers continue to dwindle. According to a 2006 article by Time Magazine's Jeremy Caplan, ad sales account for approximately 80 percent of a newspaper's base revenue. Couple that with the fact that online advertising is about one-fourth the cost of print advertising, and the outlook seems increasingly bleak for print newspapers.

As Scott Bosley, executive director of the American Society of Newspapers, said, "the word newspaper is going to disappear."

Can't we just talk?

For seasoned news photographer Hector Acevedo, technology has worked wonders on a professional level, from smarter-than-thou digital cameras to streamlined photo management software.

But for all the good technology has brought to the field of journalism and photography, Acevedo feels it has done an equally satisfactory job of distancing the public, both from news, and from one another.

"With the tech generation, we are becoming desensitized in how we communicate," he says. "It's moving us away from becoming personally connected, and moving us more toward just being stimulated."

Acevedo says he feels much the same disconnect in his photography that Worne described.

"When you, as a photojournalist, communicate with a reader, there becomes this bond or link," he says. "You stop to think, for only a moment, but there is a connection of sorts right there."

As Worne says, "You want to communicate with rest of the world about the human condition, educate the rest of the world about what's going on."

What next?

While the majority of people can agree that the Internet will play host to the news of the future, there are still plenty of question marks surrounding just what form said news will take.

With staff sizes continually shrinking, many media outlets have resorted to multi-task journalism -- reporters are now encouraged, if not obligated, to supplement stories with their own photography, video, Web content etc. While this tactic has proved to be more cost-effective for a struggling industry, many, like Worne, feel is has compromised the integrity of piece-by-piece reporting.

"Quality is definitely suffering," Worne says. "You've got photographers going into the field with a camera in one hand and a video recorder in the other. How are you going to do either one justice if you have to do both?"

Acevedo has a different take on the same phenomenon.

"I'm not a video guy, nor have I ever wanted to be," he says. "Sticking a video camera in front of me and telling me to learn this and start shooting means I will do it to save my job. Will the passion be there? Fear is the motivator."

In spite of all the negative trends, Acevedo maintains there are still a couple of tracks that can help salvage the newspaper industry.

The first is the rise of smaller, free newspapers. Acevedo bases this notion on the continued success of the Denver Daily News in a market that has already seen one storied newspaper, the Rocky Mountain News, succumb to the elements.

"The biggest problem with newspapers right now is subscriptions," he says. "That alone is killing the (Denver) Post right now and it's matter of time before the others may be phasing out."

With free, readily-available newspapers, Acevedo contends, it is much easier to reach a dedicated readership base.

"The people who grab those free papers for the morning commute and the ones who want to be reading your newspaper," he says.

Written April 16, 2009

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