Photographers at a university student media organization report to either the photo editor or editor. Photographers may work for more than one media outlet and are given assignments by editors. The director of photography or photo editor is in charge of discipline. Staff photographers must maintain at least a 2.0 GPA, be full-time students, regularly attend training and critique sessions, attend weekly assignment meetings, and maintain enthusiasm for photojournalism. The student media owns copyright to photos taken on assignment for 18 months before shared ownership with the photographer.

1. A D V I S E R S A N D
P H O T O J O U R N A L I S T S :
T H E TA N G O
© 2 0 1 7
B R A D L E Y W I L S O N , P H . D
M I D W E S T E R N S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

2. O R G A N I Z AT I O N A L
C H A R T
Do photographers answer to photo editor or editor?
Do photographers work for more than one media?
Who gives assignments?
Who is in charge of discipline?
Who checks out gear?

4. 5

6. Being a photojournalist is not work.
Find something you love to do,
and you’ll never work a day in your life.

7. J O B D E S C R I P T I O N S
• Director of photography, photo editor,
photographer, freelance
• Administrative vs. shooter

10. All staff photographers must:
1. have a 2.00 minimum GPA
2. be full-time students
3. regularly attend training and critique sessions
4. attend weekly assignment meetings
5. maintain an enthusiastic interest in photojournalism
and learning about all aspects of the field.
It is NOT a requirement that staff members have their
own equipment

11. You’re a reporter.
Spend three minutes
getting to know the people
and two minutes taking their picture.

13. Captions.
Are the responsibility of the photographer.
It’s part of the job description.

14. A S S I G N M E N T S
•Who gives assignments?
•When are assignments given?
•What does an assignment entail?
•Who handles emergency work (spot news)?

15. Three ways to get assignments
1. Actively taking a written assignment
2. Agreeing to take a photo
3. Finding good action shots to take without
being “told” to take them

16. Step One: Shoot the photos
Step Two: Download images
Step Three: Cut the crap
Step Four: Cull (with a partner)
Step Five: Basic editing
Step Six: Caption
Step Seven: Copy to server
Step Eight: Backup raw images
Step Nine: Delete raw images.

17. ©

18. C O P Y R I G H T
OWNERSHIP OF IMAGES
In accordance with Student Media policy and the work-for-hire clauses of the United
States Copyright Law, Student Media owns all images taken on assignment for the
Student Media.
This does NOT prevent a student photographer from taking pictures on their own,
using their own equipment, for profit. It does NOT prevent a student photographer
from publishing photos they have taken on their own Web site for portfolio or contest
purposes or otherwise displaying them for portfolio or contest purposes.
It DOES prevent a photographer from releasing any photos taken while on assignment
from Student Media – as indicated above – before they are published (or refused
publication) in the Student Media.
The Student Media retains exclusive rights to publish in any form photographs taken
while on assignment or published in a student media for a period of 18 months. After
that, the photographer and Student Media share copyright and both may publish as
desired.

19. SmugMug, launched in
2002, enables users to sell
their photographs online.
It’s turnkey solution. You put
photos online and user can
buy them.
81 employees. Hundreds of
thousands of ecstatic
customers. 1,368,348,560
photos and counting.

22. P H O T O C R E D I T S
FORM
• For staff photo: Lauren Roberts / The Wichitan
• For submitted photo: Photo contributed by Jack Doe, used with
permission, ©2017
• For photo with Creative Commons license: Photo contributed by
Sharon Newsom, CC2017
• For movie still: Photo by Ethan Pitzer, Paramount Studios, used
with permission
• For movie still: Photo by Sam Miller, used with permission
• For movie still: Photo courtesy Paramount Studios, used with
permission
• For video clip: Video from “The Movie,” courtesy 20th Century
Fox, used with permission

24. TYPES OF ASSIGNMENTS
Feature
News
Spot news
Sports
Portraits/mug shots
Photo illustration
Studio/still life

26. Being a reporter is your excuse
to ask anyone any question any time
— without looking stupid.

27. R E WA R D S
Gear | Access | Free meals
Money | Awards | Credit
Friends | Trips
Fun

28. T O Y S

29. A C C E S S

30. F R E E F O O D

31. M O N E Y

32. A WA R D S

33. Photo by (name) or name/publication
or Staff photo by (name)
Photo courtesy of (name) or Photo contributed by (name)
or Photo by (name)/special to (publication)
Photo illustration by (name)
File photo by (name)
Archive photo by (name)
C R E D I T

34. T E S T I M O N I A L S
“To this day, I still can’t tell you what did it.
“I can’t elaborate on what drew me, an awkward
engineering freshman, over to that corner in the
ballroom, where a former editor stood waiting.
“…Whatever the reason, I did wander over there.
He did give me that pitch. I did write my first
article.
“And I’ve never been the same.”
–TYLER DUKES, TESTIMONIAL

35. –TYLER DUKES, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
WRAL (RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA)

36. T E S T I M O N I A L S

44. Bradley Wilson
bradleywilson08@gmail.com
©2017 All photographs copyright the original photographers.