Photojournalism Dead?

It's Just Changing With the Times

In the next 50 pages Nieman Reports take stock of photojournalism today. While problems are noted, the report is positive. The articles and the photo essays by 10 Nieman Fellows demonstrate the special value of pictures to news. As noted photographer Edward Steichen summed it up at the dinner celebrating his 90th birthday in 1969: “The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each man to himself. And that is no mean function.”

Photojournalism: Introduction
By Robert H. Phelps, Editor; Changing With the Times
Working in a More Subdued World, Photojournalists Produce Outstanding Pictures Reflective of the Times
By Vincent Alabiso; AP’s Policy Banning Photo Manipulation; Hard Times Abroad
By Otto Pohl; The Best Picture I Never Took
By David Turnley; Trials With Editors; Get the Picture
A Personal History of Photojournalism
By John G. Morris; The Web Waits for the Photographer, Too
By Fred Ritchin; The Best Picture I Never Took
By Stan Grossfeld; Roy DeCarava Retrospective
By Lester Sloan; The Best Picture I Never Took
By Steve Northup; Feminine Touch
Growing Number of Women Photographers Are Making a Difference
By Mary Lou Foy; The Best Picture I Never Took
By Stanley Forman; The Role of the Picture Editor
By John Loengard; The Best Picture I Never Took
By Frank Van Riper; Inner Eye
A Life-Long Strategy for Learning Photojournalism
By Bill Kuykendall; Honest Emotion
By Torsten Kjellstrand; Interaction
By Mary Beth Meehan; People Without People
By Alan Berner; Pictures Dominate, Words Come Second
By Sherry Jones; ‘Secret’ Behind TV Station’s Photos
By Manny Sotelo
Watchdog Journalism: Introduction
By Robert H. Phelps, Editor; How to Keep the Watchdogs Watching
First Nieman Conference on Aggressive Reporting Produces Scores of Ideas, Some Conflicting
By Julia Keller; CNN’s Tightened Check On News Breaks
By Eason Jordan
Curator's Corner: The Daily Work of the Media
By Bill Kovach

Photo Essays: Micha Bar-Am; Stanley Forman; Stan Grossfeld; Michele McDonald; Steve Northup; Eli Reed; Nancy Rhoda; Lester Sloan; David Turnley; Frank Van Riper
The Journalist's Trade: How VOA Reported Sex Charges
By Mark B. Lewis; Legacy of Diana and the British Press
By Peter Almond; Dramatizing a Story Through ‘High Density’
By David Halberstam; Progress by Washington Post Copyeditors: 1996
Appeal to Improve Copy Desk
By Philip M. Foisie; Progress by Washington Post Copyeditors: 1997
Back to School for Copyeditors?
By Geneva Overholser
Technology: On-line Profits From News Must Wait
By Tom Regan
Letters to the Editor: Tobacco and the American Civil Liberties Union; Indians Left Out
Books: Cloning, a Great Story, but Know What You Are Writing
By Harold M. Schmeck, Jr.; Questioning the Press’s Adversarial Tone
By Molly Marsh; Scoop Artist Who Isn’t a Journalist
By Robert Lenzner; A Newsman’s Style as Envoy in Africa
By Wilson Wanene; Who Knows Better—Critics or the People?
By Lois Fiore
Nieman Notes: From Tiananmen To Harvard Square
By Philip Cunningham; Carole Kneeland—Model of Excellence
By Valerie Hyman

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Publisher: Bill Kovach
Editor: Robert H. Phelps
Assistant Editor: Lois Fiore
Editorial Assistant: Molly Marsh
Technology Editor: Lewis Clapp
Design Editor: Deborah Smiley
Business Manager: Susan Goldstein
Cover Story: A photographers’ poker game, circa 1950. Clockwise from left: Gjon Mili, Dmitri Kessel, Robert Capa, Pepi Martis, Philippe Halsman and Cornell Capa.

© Yvonne Halsman