ISSN: 1550-7521
ISSN: 1550-7521
Pradeep Tewari*
The Tribune publication, Chandigarh, India
Received Date: October 17, 2021; Accepted Date: November 10, 2021; Published Date: November 24, 2021
Citation: Tewari P (2021) Changing Trends in Photojournalism: Education level and Use of Mobile Camera has Increased in India. Global Media Journal, 19:45.
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This study investigated the change in photojournalism in India in recent years, it reveals 73.3% photojournalists are using mobile and DSLR cameras for taking photographs and videos, whereas only 14.2% are using DSLR and others are using mirror less and only mobile cameras. 91.7% photojournalists say media organizations are reducing their photo staff, whereas 69.2% say reporting staff is actively taking photos and videos. 86.7% accepted that the workload of the photojournalist has increased. 25.7% photojournalists are writing news and articles regularly, whereas 33.4% say they write some time. 85% photojournalists accepted that active participation of citizen photojournalists has increased, 95% believed that level of education has increased among photojournalists. 54.2% photojournalists are taking videos as well as news photos on a regular basis; whereas 34.2% accepted they do take videos but occasionally. 42.5% respondents accepted that some time they are taking advertisements and 7.5% says it is mandatory by their office.
Photojournalist; Digital journalism; Newspaper Photography; Photojournalism; Mobile camera
Photojournalism is an important branch of journalism; it plays a very important role in the media. Photojournalist does the same work that a writer does. The author expresses his story in words, the same photojournalist presents that story by photo, it can be a series of photos or one photo. Photojournalism is different from other forms of photography in that photographs are taken keeping in mind all the standards of journalism, like News, Timeliness, Objectivity and photographs are taken with complete impartiality [1].
Photo plays an important role in newspapers; it is a very powerful medium of visual communication. We can take our own example whenever we look at the newspaper, first our eyes go to the photo, after that our attention is focused on the words, so every newspaper gives a very important place to the photo, that’s why photos are very important for newspapers.
When a picture is used with any news in the newspapers, it increases the credibility of that news because the picture is depicting the reality of that news; it is presenting the authenticity of that news. The proof of the incident that happened can be shown only from the photograph, so the importance of photographs in the newspaper is very high [2].
Kenneth F. Irby (2002) from the Poynter Institute explains photojournalism “the craft of employing photographic storytelling to document life: it is universal and transcends cultural and language bounds.”
The photographs in the newspapers directly attract the reader whereas the word the person sees later. A study by the psychologist Albert Mehrabian (1981) shows that 93% of communication is nonverbal
A good news photo is one that makes the reader understand the whole news by seeing the picture without reading the news. A good news photo compels the reader to read the news. That's why photojournalists always wait for such photos which compel a reader to read the news. They always hunt for action pictures with expressions and uniqueness to tell the news in an effective manner.
Most of the readers like to see the action of the news which they have not been able to see, this is the biggest reason why photojournalists work during the rain or storm, cross firing, big accident, war zone and demonstration. The eyes of the photojournalist are always engaged in capturing such unique moments in the camera which become history.
The pace of photography accelerated after Joseph Nicephore Nicepee's invention in 1826. He used a professionally made camera obscure to produce the first permanently fixed image, which was made by Charles and Vincent Chevalier, they were Parisian opticians. After 13 years Frenchman, Louis Jacques Daguerre made photography more permanent by improving the technology in 1839 [3].
After the permanent images and light weight camera invention Roger Fenton, took the photos of the British troops during the Crimean War (1853-1856) in Europe, and Mathew Brady between 1861 to 1865 documented the American Civil War [3].
Photography kept improving day by day. The period of the end 19th century is considered to be the development period of photography. At this time technology of photography developed very rapidly, Scientists developed the smaller cameras, which were much easier to use. With the development of technology, photographs became very easy to use in newspapers. History is witness that many pictures brought big changes in the society after publishing in the newspapers. Like photographs of an immigrant mother, Florence Owens Thompson taken by Dorothea Lange in 1936 with the title "Migrant Mother,". This photo became the face of America's resilience and the Great Depression.
The routine process of a photo section of all the newspapers around the world has changed drastically with the digital technology. New technologies in the field of photography have the potential to produce good photographs even in the low light and send them directly to the news desk for publication without wasting the time. It saves the time of the editorial team to select the appropriate news photographs and send them to the scanning department within seconds [4].
Scientists made a huge leap in photography and developed digital photography, after that photography became easier and everyone's access to photography increased. With the advent of mobile cameras, there was a huge change in photography. News photographs taken by citizens also started getting space in the newspapers and the quality of the photos also increased. After the emergence of digital photography photojournalists can easily manipulate, reproduce and transmit the images very quickly [5].
Digital technologies have transformed the working style for photojournalists during the assignment and brought economic advantages and quality photos to news organizations. In film photography, photojournalists can’t be sure of what news photos they have captured until they develop their film rolls. Whereas digital technology provides display screens on the camera which allow photojournalists to review after taking a photo and can delete the photos during the assignment and take them again.
Nowadays digital technology is being used very well in the newspapers, most of the photojournalists sending his or her assignments without delay to the newsroom from a far destination. Today the editor is in the newspaper office or not, it doesn't matter whether he is in any city of India or abroad, just the internet should be running, he can see the photo in his phone and decide which news photo can be used on which page of the newspaper. With the help of new technology, the working in the Newspapers has become quick and responsive.
Photojournalist should be always alert for taking good news photos, for that he has to have his camera all the time, it is possible through the mobile camera because the mobile is always in our hand or pocket and whenever we see some news, we can capture it within a few seconds. That's why most photojournalists say that the best camera is the one that you always have with you, it can only be a mobile camera.
Some time ago, mobile photographs were not considered in the newspaper because of the poor-quality photos, but due to the continuous improvements in digital photography, today mobile photography has improved. Many journalists also use mobile phones for taking photos and videos for their stories.
There is a lot of change in the field of journalism due to advancement in mobile photography, most of the media houses are getting the breaking news photographs and videos taken by the mobile phone.
Smartphone journalism is evolving into a new genre of media. Thousands of mobile journalists have been hired by the BBC over the years all over the world. The main reason for the popularity of mobile journalism is because of having everything in your pocket. The mobile which is in your pocket, does video recording, audio recording and takes great photos and sends it to the news desk within seconds (Monk, 2021).
The purpose of this research was to examine the change in Photojournalism in 2021 in India. This study will also focus on how photojournalists' effects with the development of digital technology in recent years.
The popularization of digital photography and ubiquity of camera phones has built pressures on photojournalists in recent years. For their recognition and existence of photojournalism in the coming years photojournalists had to work hard [6].
Kodak’s engineer Steve Sasson invented the digital camera in 1975. In the first phase of digitization of photojournalism in the 1980s, photos and films were scanned to convert in the digital format to save them in the CD or Floppy. Second phase began almost a decade later, when many newspapers adopted digital cameras [6]. The use of digital cameras has changed the working style of photo journalists around the world. [7-9].
Previous research suggests that digital technology will not harm photojournalism, but digital photography will be better than chemical photography (Fahmy and Smith, 2003). When digital technology was introduced in the newspaper industry, photojournalists had to face many challenges as they were not trained or expert to use the new technology at that time [10]. Photojournalists will be required to send it immediately to the newsroom, as well as edit and archive the photos [11].
According to the study by Bethune (1984), the educational level of young photographers comparatively is much higher than older photographers. Now, photojournalists will face lot of challenges, like workload due to editing and archiving work, job insecurity due to citizen participation in news photos, and pressure to redefine their professional identity [12].
The Chicago Sun-Times eliminated the entire twenty-eight photojournalists from the photography department in May 2013, and replaced them with news reporters with iPhones. The Chicago Sun-Times says that “The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers, and as a result, we have had to restructure the way we manage multimedia, including photography, across the network” (Channick, 2013).
Many other big media houses like CNN, the Times Herald-Record, and The Atlanta Journal Constitution and Sports Illustrated magazine discharged photojournalists in recent years (García, 2012; Anderson, 2013). When CNN laid off several photojournalists in 2011, CNN cited the “impact of user-generated content and social media…in breaking news,” as a key reason [13].
As per the report of the Journalistic Profession 2014, In Spain, nearly 12000 jobs have vanished in the media sector since 2008, moreover 364 media establishments have closed. In the year 2014 nearly 2412 journalists lost their jobs and many have salary decreases and poorer quality job conditions with extra working hours.
The contribution of visual content by the common person is not something exclusive to digital or the new media. Assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 is captured by the common person Abraham Zapruder (Tewari, 2016). The incidents around the world captured by a common person came into the limelight and visuals taken by them were published in almost all the newspapers around the world. We have some recent examples, the terrorist attack of 9/11 on the Twin Tower of America, terrorist attack in London (2005) and Boston (2013), the riots of the United Kingdom (2011), massive agitations in Myanmar (2007), and massacre in Syria (2013). These are some of the tragic events that have not been covered by the photojournalist [14].
A study by Suite 48 Analytics among 881 professional photographers from North America and Europe says many photographers for business purposes are still taking photographs with the camera. And only 11 percent photographers use mobile cameras for approximately 50 percent of their pro images. Study indicates that professional images taken with the mobile camera are also on the rise, 31 percent surveyed photographers say that they use more smartphones for photography than they did 12 months ago [5].
The present study wishes to enhance the range of existing research, and explore the current threats facing by the Indian photojournalist. The study will also check the changing education level of Indian photojournalists. As now a photojournalist must be good in all the fields like Information Technology, practice of writing, videographer, having knowledge of video and photo editing, and computer repair [16].
In this study the participants were involved from anywhere in India and all languages with a minimum circulation of 10,000 and 10,000 viewership for online news portals. The survey form was prepared in English and because all the working photojournalists can easily understand the English. The list of photojournalists was compiled with the help of the Press Information Bureau list, Public relation department of different states and press club of various states. An invitation to join the survey was Whatsapp and emailed to 300 photojournalists in July 2021, followed by personal calls on the mobile phone and three-time reminder on email and Whatsapp. The survey was completed by 120 photojournalists (40%), majority were working with the leading newspapers of India, like The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Indian Express, The Tribune, Daink Bhaskar, Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujjal and Punjab Kesri and other news portals and magazine.
The majority of the respondents 42.3% were from Hindi newspapers, 29.2% worked for English newspapers, 16.5% worked for online news portals and the remaining worked for online news portals, magazine and vernacular papers (12%). The sample was selected from all over India, the sample size was not big but even then, it represents the whole country.
The questionnaire was prepared with the help of three photo editors to measure the recent change in the photojournalism and photojournalist’s views on various aspects. The purpose of the study was to find out the major changes in the field of photojournalism. I have used Cross tabulation on the SPSS to analyse the relationship between multiple variables.
A chi-square test was also done to check the difference between observed data and expected data. Chi-square test technique is used to show a statistical independence or association between two or more categorical variables.
Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are as follows:
1. To find out the transformation in photojournalism in India.
2. To examine the current working conditions and job security of Indian photojournalists.
Research Questions
The following research questions will be answered:
RQ: Is a photojournalist taking videos as well as news photos?
RQ: Are the news videos of assignments compulsory?
RQ: Are photojournalists using mobile cameras for their daily assignments?
RQ: Are reporting staff taking videos or photos?
RQ: Has the education level increased among photojournalists?
RQ: Are photojournalists reduced by the newspapers?
RQ: Do photojournalists also write news and articles?
RQ: Do you think workload has increased?
RQ: Can a common person contribute news photographs?
RQ: When did you upload photos and videos?
RQ: Do you think photojournalism in India is under crisis?
RQ: Do photojournalists collect advertisements?
A survey was conducted among photojournalists from various parts of India about the change in photojournalism in recent years. A sample size of 120 respondents was selected, and analysed in the SPSS. The results of the study achieved during the survey are as follows in Table 1.
Table 1 shows that most of the photojournalists are taking videos during their daily assignments as 54.2% are making news videos on a regular basis, whereas 34.2% say they also take videos some time according to important news. It is clearly shown that all the young photojournalists having less than 10-year experience are making news videos, whereas 7.5% photojournalists having more than 20-year experience are only taking photos.
| Experience Category | Only Photos | Video Shoot Some time (photos & Videos) | Yes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 10 | 5 | 14 | 26 | 45 |
| 4.2% | 11.7% | 21.7% | 37.5% | |
| Above 20 | 6 | 17 | 17 | 40 |
| 5.0% | 14.2% | 14.2% | 33.3% | |
| Above 30 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 2.5% | 2.5% | 3.3% | 8.3% | |
| Above 10 | 0 | 7 | 18 | 25 |
| 0.0% | 5.8% | 15.0% | 20.8% | |
| Total | 14 | 41 | 65 | 120 |
| 11.7% | 34.2% | 54.2% | 100.0% | |
| P value= .109 (Not sig. as p value is > .05) | ||||
Table 1: Is a photojournalist taking videos as well as news photos?
A chi-square test of independence showed that there was no significant association between variables as P value= .109 in Tables 2 and 3.
| Experience of photo journalist | May be | No | yes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 10 | 1 | 20 | 24 | 45 |
| 0.8% | 17% | 22.0% | 39.8% | |
| Above 20 | 0 | 19 | 21 | 40 |
| 0.0% | 13.8% | 18.5% | 31.3% | |
| Above 30 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 1.7% | 4.2% | 2.5% | 8.3% | |
| Below 10 | 1 | 5 | 19 | 25 |
| 0.8% | 4.2% | 16.1% | 20.8% | |
| Total | 4 | 49 | 67 | 120 |
| 3.3% | 37.5% | 59.2% | 100.0% | |
| P value= .012 (Sig. as p value is < .05) | ||||
Table 2: Are the news videos of assignments compulsory?
| Newspapers | Maybe | No | Yes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Newspaper | 1 | 15 | 19 | 35 |
| 0.80% | 12.50% | 15.80% | 29.20% | |
| Hindi Newspaper | 2 | 20 | 29 | 51 |
| 1.70% | 16.70% | 24.20% | 42.50% | |
| Online News portal | 0 | 0 | 21 | 21 |
| 0.00% | 0.00% | 16.70% | 16.70% | |
| Other Newspapers or magazine | 1 | 10 | 3 | 14 |
| 0.80% | 7.50% | 2.40% | 10.70% | |
| Total | 4 | 49 | 67 | 120 |
| 3.30% | 37.50% | 59.20% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .017 (Sig. as p value is < .05) | ||||
Table 3: Is videos compulsory? (Comparison of English and Hindi newspapers).
newspapers).As per the table number 2, most of the photojournalists 59.2% say videos of assignments are compulsory as well as photos. While 37.5% respondents say it is not compulsory by their organizations to take videos. Table number 2a shows the comparison of English and Hindi newspapers which shows that more than 50% of photojournalists of national English and Hindi daily say it is compulsory by their organizations, whereas all the respondents of online news portals say video is mandatory for all the news events.
A chi-square test of table 2 and 2a independence showed that there is a significant association between the variables (Table 4).
| Experience of Photojournalist | Both (DSLR & Mobile) | DSLR (Digital) | Mirror less | Mobile Camera | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 10 | 34 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 45 |
| Above 20 | 28.30% | 5.80% | 0.80% | 2.50% | 37.50% |
| 32 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 40 | |
| Above 30 | 26.70% | 5.80% | 0.00% | 0.80% | 33.30% |
| 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Below 10 | 6.70% | 1.70% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 8.30% |
| 14 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 25 | |
| Total | 11.70% | 0.80% | 0.00% | 8.30% | 20.80% |
| 88 | 17 | 1 | 14 | 120 | |
| 73.30% | 14.20% | 0.80% | 11.70% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .001 (Sig. as p value is < .05) | |||||
Table 4: Are photojournalists using mobile cameras for their daily assignments?
The study indicates that 73.3% photojournalists are using mobile cameras and DSLR during their daily assignments. While mirror less is very less popular among the Indian photojournalists, and 11.7% respondents are only using smart phones for their daily assignments. 14.2% photojournalists still use only DSLR cameras for their daily assignment.
A chi-square test of independence showed that there is a significant association between the variables P value= .001 (Table 5).
A chi-square test of independence showed that there was no significant association between variables as P value= .152 (Table 6).
Table 5 shows that photo and video contribution of reporters has increased in India as 69.2% agreed that reporting staff is also contributing photos only 16.7% says they are not taking videos and photos, while 14.2% say they are taking sometimes. Table number 5 indicates that 64.2% say reporting staff is taking videos.
A chi-square test of independence of table 5 showed that there is a significant association between the variables as P value= .037 (Table 7).
| Experience of Photojournalist | Sometime | No | Yes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 10 | 7 | 6 | 32 | 45 |
| 5.80% | 5.00% | 26.70% | 37.50% | |
| Above 20 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 40 |
| 4.20% | 7.50% | 21.70% | 33.30% | |
| Above 30 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1.70% | 3.30% | 3.30% | 8.30% | |
| Below 10 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 25 |
| 2.50% | 0.80% | 17.50% | 20.80% | |
| Total | 17 | 20 | 83 | 120 |
| 14.20% | 16.70% | 69.20% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .152 (Not sig. as p value is > .05) | ||||
Table 5: Are reporting staff taking videos or photos?
| Experience of Photojournalist | Sometime | No | Yes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 10 | 4 | 12 | 29 | 45 |
| 3.30% | 10.00% | 24.20% | 37.50% | |
| Above 20 | 4 | 13 | 23 | 40 |
| 3.30% | 10.80% | 19.20% | 33.30% | |
| Above 30 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 0.00% | 5.00% | 3.30% | 8.30% | |
| Below 10 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 25 |
| 2.50% | 0.80% | 17.50% | 20.80% | |
| Total | 11 | 32 | 77 | 120 |
| 9.20% | 26.70% | 64.20% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .037 (Sig. as p value is < .05) | ||||
Table 6: Is reporting staff taking Videos?
| Experience of Photojournalist | Maybe | No | Yes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 10 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 45 |
| 0.80% | 0.00% | 36.70% | 37.50% | |
| Above 20 | 0 | 2 | 38 | 40 |
| 0.00% | 1.70% | 31.70% | 33.30% | |
| Above 30 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 10 |
| 0.00% | 0.80% | 7.50% | 8.30% | |
| Below 10 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 25 |
| 0.00% | 1.70% | 19.20% | 20.80% | |
| Total | 1 | 5 | 114 | 120 |
| 0.80% | 4.20% | 95.00% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .494 (Not sig. as p value is > .05) | ||||
Table 7: Has the education level increased among photojournalists?
Table 7 provides statistical information of the education level among photojournalists has increased in India. 95% respondent accepted that education level has increased among photojournalists in India.
A chi-square test of independence showed that there was no significant association between variables as P value= .494 (Table 8).
| Experience of Photojournalist | Maybe | No | Yes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 10 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 45 |
| 1.70% | 0.00% | 35.80% | 37.50% | |
| Above 20 | 2 | 1 | 37 | 40 |
| 1.70% | 0.80% | 30.80% | 33.30% | |
| Above 30 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 10 |
| 0.00% | 0.80% | 7.50% | 8.30% | |
| Below 10 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 25 |
| 1.70% | 1.70% | 17.50% | 20.80% | |
| Total | 6 | 4 | 110 | 120 |
| 5.00% | 3.30% | 91.70% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .450 (Not sig. as p value is > .05) | ||||
Table 8: Are photojournalists reduced by the newspapers?
As per the study 91.7% photojournalists say news organizations have reduced the photojournalist, due to advancement in technology and quality photography with the smartphone most of the newspapers know not hiring photojournalists and reducing their staff. In the Covid period most of the photojournalists lost their jobs around the world, and Indian photojournalists also suffered the heat of Covid 19.
A chi-square test of independence showed that there was no significant association between variables as P value= .450 (Table 9).
| Experience of Photojournalist | Yes | Some Time | No | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 10 | 11 | 16 | 18 | 45 |
| 9.10% | 13.30% | 15.00% | 37.50% | |
| Above 20 | 8 | 11 | 21 | 40 |
| 6.60% | 9.20% | 17.50% | 33.30% | |
| Above 30 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 0.00% | 4.20% | 4.20% | 8.30% | |
| Below 10 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 25 |
| 10.00% | 6.70% | 4.20% | 20.80% | |
| Total | 31 | 40 | 49 | 120 |
| 25.70% | 33.40% | 40.90% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .097 (Not sig. as p value is > .05) | ||||
Table 9: Do photojournalists also write news and articles?
A chi-square test of independence showed that there was no significant association between variables as P value= .097 (Table 10).
| Newspapers | No | Sometime | Yes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Newspaper | 26 | 8 | 1 | 35 |
| 21.60% | 6.70% | 0.80% | 29.20% | |
| Hindi Newspaper | 19 | 22 | 10 | 51 |
| 15.80% | 18.30% | 8.30% | 42.50% | |
| Online News portal | 0 | 5 | 15 | 20 |
| 0.00% | 8.40% | 12.50% | 21.00% | |
| Other Newspapers or magzine | 4 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 3.30% | 4.10% | 4.40% | 7.50% | |
| Total | 49 | 40 | 31 | 120 |
| 40.70% | 33.30% | 25.00% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .017 (Sig. as p value is < .05) | ||||
Table 10: Do you also write news and articles?
As per the table 8, 25.7% photojournalist says they are writing news and article on regular basis, while 33.4% says they write occasionally and 40.9% says they are not writing, table 8a shows that most of the online news portal staff is contributing in the reporting and Hindi newspaper photojournalist is also writing in good number as compare to English newspapers.
A chi-square test of independence of table 8a showed that there is a significant association between the variables as P value= .017 (Table 11).
A table 11 show the workload on the photojournalists has increased as 86.7% respondent accepted that workload on the photojournalists has increased.
| Experience of Photojournalist | Decreased | Fluctuating | Increased | No Change | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 10 | 3 | 1 | 40 | 1 | 45 |
| 2.50% | 0.80% | 33.30% | 0.80% | 37.50% | |
| Above 20 | 2 | 2 | 33 | 3 | 40 |
| 1.70% | 1.70% | 27.50% | 2.50% | 33.30% | |
| Above 30 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| 0.00% | 2.50% | 5.80% | 0.00% | 8.30% | |
| Below 10 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 25 |
| 0.00% | 0.00% | 20.00% | 0.80% | 20.80% | |
| Total | 5 | 6 | 104 | 5 | 120 |
| 4.20% | 5.00% | 86.70% | 4.20% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .023 (Sig. as p value is < .05) | |||||
Table 11: Do you think workload has increased?
A chi-square test of independence showed that there is a significant association between the variables as P value= .023 (Table 12).
As per the table 12 common persons direct participation in the newspaper has increased as 85% working photojournalists accept that citizen photojournalists are actively sending news photos and news organisations using them after checking their authenticity.
| Experience of Photojournalist | Decreased | Increased (only after checking authenticity) | No Change | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 10 | 3 | 39 | 3 | 45 |
| 2.50% | 32.50% | 2.50% | 37.50% | |
| Above 20 | 3 | 31 | 6 | 40 |
| 2.50% | 25.80% | 5.00% | 33.30% | |
| Above 30 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 0.00% | 6.70% | 1.70% | 8.30% | |
| Below 10 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 25 |
| 0.00% | 20% | 0.80% | 20.80% | |
| Total | 6 | 102 | 12 | 120 |
| 5.00% | 85.00% | 10.00% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .029 (Sig. as p value is < .05) | ||||
Table 12: Can a common person contribute news photographs?
A chi-square test of independence showed that there is a significant association between the variables as P value= .023 (Table 13).
| Newspapers | After finish the event | Not taking videos | only in the evening | Whenever we find time before evening meeting | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Newspaper | 30 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 35 |
| 25.00% | 2.50% | 0.00% | 1.70% | 29.20% | |
| Hindi Newspaper | 36 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 51 |
| 30.00% | 9.20% | 1.70% | 1.70% | 42.50% | |
| Online News portal | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 16.70% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 16.70% | |
| Other Newspapers or magazine | 9 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| 7.50% | 2.50% | 0.00% | 1.70% | 11.70% | |
| Total | 94 | 17 | 2 | 7 | 120 |
| 78.30% | 14.20% | 1.70% | 5.80% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .184 (Sig. as p value is < .05) | |||||
Table 13: When did you upload the video assignment?
The research table 11 shows that 78.3% photojournalists send the videos immediately after finishing the event, while 100% respondents of online news portals send videos immediately. 14.2% of photojournalists say they are not taking videos.
A chi-square test of independence showed that there was no significant association between variables as P value= .184 (Table 14).
| Newspapers | After finish the event | Immediate after taking the photos | Immediate after taking the photos if important | only in the evening | Whenever we find time before evening meeting | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Newspaper | 2 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 18 | 35 |
| 1.70% | 1.70% | 7.50% | 3.30% | 15.00% | 29.20% | |
| Hindi Newspaper | 3 | 5 | 18 | 8 | 17 | 51 |
| 2.50% | 4.20% | 15.00% | 6.70% | 14.20% | 42.50% | |
| Online News portal | 0 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 0.00% | 9.20% | 7.50% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 16.70% | |
| Other Newspapers or magazine | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 14 |
| 0.80% | 0.80% | 3.30% | 0.80% | 5.80% | 11.70% | |
| Total | 6 | 19 | 40 | 13 | 42 | 120 |
| 5.00% | 15.80% | 33.30% | 10.80% | 35.00% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .000 (Sig. as p value is < .05) | ||||||
Table 14: When did you upload photos and videos?
The table 11a indicates that majority of the photojournalist 35% uploading photo assignment whenever they have time before the evening meeting, while 33.3% uploading their photos immediate after taking the photos if a news is important and 15.8% says they are sending Immediate after taking the photos whether it is important or not.
A chi-square test of independence showed that there is a significant association between the variables as P value= .000 (Table 15).
Table 15 indicates that 86.7% photojournalists in India have accepted that the profession of photojournalism is under crisis.
A chi-square test of independence showed that there was no significant association between variables as P value= .137 (Table 16).
| Experience of Photojournalist | Maybe | No | Yes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 10 | 1 | 1 | 43 | 45 |
| 0.80% | 0.80% | 35.80% | 37.50% | |
| Above 20 | 5 | 0 | 35 | 40 |
| 4.10% | 0.00% | 29.20% | 33.30% | |
| Above 30 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 10 |
| 1.70% | 0.00% | 6.70% | 8.30% | |
| Below 10 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 25 |
| 4.20% | 1.70% | 15.00% | 20.80% | |
| Total | 13 | 3 | 104 | 120 |
| 10.80% | 2.50% | 86.70% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .137 (Not sig. as p value is > .05) | ||||
Table 15: Do you think photojournalism in India is under crisis?
| Experience of Photojournalist | No | Yes (It is mandatory) | Yes (Some Time) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 10 | 18 | 4 | 21 | 45 |
| 16.70% | 3.30% | 17.50% | 37.50% | |
| Above 20 | 23 | 1 | 16 | 40 |
| 19.10% | 0.80% | 13.30% | 33.30% | |
| Above 30 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 0.00% | 1.70% | 8.30% | ||
| Below 10 | 9 | 4 | 12 | 25 |
| 7.50% | 3.30% | 10.00% | 20.80% | |
| Total | 58 | 9 | 51 | 120 |
| 50.00% | 7.50% | 42.50% | 100.00% | |
| P value= .219 (Not sig. as p value is > .05) | ||||
Table 16: Do photojournalist collect advertisement.
As per table 13, 42.5% respondents accepted that some time they are taking advertisements and 7.5% says it is mandatory by their office. When we cross the data with news organizations table 13a, study reveals that most of the photojournalists working with the Hindi newspapers and online news portal are accepting the advertisement, while only 2.5% photojournalist of English newspapers is getting advertisement some time.
A chi-square test of table 13a independence showed that there is a significant association between the variables as P value= .000.
• Most of the photojournalists are taking videos during their daily assignments.
• Most photojournalists say videos of assignments are compulsory as well as photos.
• Most of the photojournalists are using mobile cameras and DSLR during their daily assignments.
• Photo and video contribution has increased by the reporting staff.
• Education level among photojournalists has increased in India.
• Newspapers have reduced their photojournalism.
• Some of the photojournalists have started writing news and articles.
• Workload on the photojournalist has increased.
• Photos and videos are frequently produced by Citizen Journalists.
• Photojournalists send the videos immediately to their office but they are uploading the photos as per the importance of assignments.
• Profession of photojournalism in India is under crisis.
• Some of the photojournalists have started collecting the advertisement.
The findings of the present study show the significant changes in photojournalism in India. Innovations in smart phones and their cameras gave speed and efficiency to photojournalism as higher resolution news photos and videos can be taken and shared to news rooms and other social media platforms of newspapers instantly. As the previous study shows, all the photojournalists in India in 2011 were using digital cameras (Tewari, 2015), whereas this study shows mobile cameras are in high demand among Indian photojournalists. Those who are using DSLR and mirror less cameras are only 15%, while all other photojournalists 85% are using mobile cameras for their daily assignments. We have many examples of the rise of mobile journalism like thousands of mobile journalists have been hired by the BBC over the years all over the world (Monk, 2021). The Chicago Sun-Times eliminated the entire twenty-eight photojournalists from the photography department in May 2013, and gave mobile phones to reporting staff (Channick, 2013).
A study on Indian photojournalist indicates that up to 2011, all the media organizations were using computer technology (Tewari, 2015), like now photojournalist were not dependent to photo labs and no need to go desk to desk to show the news photos as now each desk can see photos on their computer. With the development of mobile cameras in recent years, anybody can easily take higher resolution photographs within a second, as it doesn’t need extra skills to choose the appropriate exposures, they can easily send to the newspaper with the help of e-mail and social media platforms. As we all are aware, the phone is the only device which most people carry all the time, now a mid-range mobile has a quality camera.
The study indicates that 85% photojournalists accepted the rise of using photographs provided by the common persons. It is only after the increase in the quality of the smartphone camera, photos taken by the citizen photojournalist have started being used more and more in the newspapers. News photos are given more importance in any newspaper and it is not possible to have a photojournalist at the time of every incident. We have many examples, where we can see incidents around the world captured by a common person got place on the front page of all the newspapers, like the terrorist attack of 9/11 on the Twin Tower of America, terrorist attack in London (2005) and Boston (2013), the riots of the United Kingdom (2011), massive agitations in Myanmar (2007), massacre in Syria (2013). These are some of the tragic events that have not been covered by the photojournalist [16].
The interest of the educated younger generation in photojournalism is increasing day by day despite the decrease in jobs in recent years; the study shows that 95% photojournalists accept that well educated people are now joining photojournalism in India. All the newspaper organizations prefer the multitalented photojournalist who can take photos, video, write good captions and edit photographs and even videos, it needs good qualification and prior training.
Media industry is facing financial problems all over the world that’s why they are not hiring photojournalists. 91.7% photojournalists in this study accepted that all the newspapers reduced their staff in recent years. There are many other reasons for the decline in photojournalism jobs, such as the increase in quality in mobile photography has made it easier to take good photos, today the reporting staff 69.2% also takes photographs. The photos taken by common people also come in good quality, because of this, its use has started becoming more in the newspapers. Management of the newspaper are also seeing that the photos are becoming easily available, this is also the main reason for the reduction in jobs. In recent years many staff photographers were laid-off [16].
Majority of the photojournalist 86.7% accepted that the workload has increased in recent years as now photojournalists have many other responsibilities like making news video, which consume maximum time, all the newspapers have their online edition for that they need news photos as soon as possible, in the study 33.3% photojournalist and 100% photojournalist of online news portal says they are uploading the photos immediate if the event is important, while 35% says they upload the photos whenever they find time before the evening meeting. 78.3% photojournalists and 100% of online news portal photojournalists send news videos immediately to their newspapers. This is the main reason for the increase of workload on the Indian photojournalist.
Some photojournalists say that due to digital technology there has been a decline in photo journalism and jobs are being lost. We all should understand that time is very important in the news industry, we are beating the time only with digital medium so we can say digital photography is better than chemical photography as it saves a lot of time and increases the quality of photos and it is not that digital technology is harming photojournalism.
Whereas this study discovered the changes in this research paper, it is due to the changes that are coming due to the improvement of technology in the last few years, engineers will continue to make technology improvement day by day, which will bring more changes in photojournalism, so it is suggested that prospect researchers extend the time frame.
Limitations
The results that have come in this research paper show the changing dimension of photojournalism in India, but there were some limitations in this research work because the data of the photojournalists was taken from PIB and the press club of various states. Moreover, this research work was not based on open ended questions; the researchers did not uncover some more issues like salary and uncounted working hours. The researcher will take big data in coming months and ask more relevant questions which are missing in the present study. In the next research, work will also be done to see the change of photojournalists from other countries of the world.
Smartphones today remain at the center of journalism all over the world. Photo journalism has also not remained untouched by the use of smartphones; it has also changed the working style of photo journalism. As today every newspaper wants to bring news photos and videos to its readers as soon as possible, that is possible only with a smartphone, it is clearly visible from this research. Today, in our educational institutions of media, keeping this research work in mind, mobile photography must be taught to students.
The major changes in the field of photojournalism have been found in this research, in view of that, even in journalism colleges, students should be educated according to the needs of the newspaper. How is mobile technology used in the newspaper industry today? We all have seen from the finding of this research work, today one of the biggest challenges for photojournalists is how to put the best news photos in their newspapers to reduce the photo share of citizen photojournalists.
Yes, it is certain that every photojournalist cannot be present everywhere at the time of any incident, so that photo will be useful for the newspaper only by the citizens who are documenting that event. Photojournalists should also start writing, as study indicates that there is decline in the photojournalism jobs and increase in the study level, so now it is not a big deal to write news and articles for the newspapers by the photojournalist. Suppose a photojournalist starts writing and taking videos and editing them online with their mobiles, like many photojournalists have started in the world and in India. Then the jobs will be secured as newspaper management also facing financial problems, they will prefer to hire a multi-tasking journalist.
Photojournalism is such a medium that shows the mirror to the society and it brings major positive change in the society. Some colleagues who were fired by their newspapers during the Corona period did the work of bringing change in the society by starting their own YouTube channel and online news portal. By becoming the voice of the society, using many mediums of social media, how many photojournalists are engaged in public awareness with the help of their photos and videos.
Those losing the jobs and worried about their jobs they should learn from Rob Hart, a photojournalist of Chicago Sun-Times (Hare, 2015), who was laid off by them says “The better answer is tell people to stop allowing news organizations to undervalue you,” Hart wrote in an email. “My assistant Monday made more in 4 hours than you make in an entire day working for a national newspaper. It’s a market just like anything else. You have to find places where your talents are valued and where there’s a scarcity. You might think what you’re doing is a public service and you will surely take a pay cut to keep being the voice for the voiceless but you can bet the CEO and VPs know they’re gonna make what they’re worth.”
Yes, it is definitely that according to the changing times, photo journalists will also have to change, now they are not going to survive just by taking photographs, the need of the newspaper and the need of a reader have to be understood.
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