When was the last time you saw a great news picture? Or a piece of reportage that truly made an impact? Regardless of your opinion of the winners, did you see any of the World Press images winners when they were actually published for the first time?
If you can’t recall a specific date, don’t worry; it’s not your fault. The places where one could find valued photojournalism have nearly vanished. Major news publications have either disappeared or are mere shadows of their glorious past. There was once an era when one could discover great news photography in diverse places such as Wired magazine or Ladies Home Journal, but we are now extremely lucky if we find an issue of National Geographic with some amazing images.
An Extinction Event
Print magazines are dying, and with them, the budgets that sustained a whole community of talented photojournalists. We are losing not only these platforms but also an entire audience of avid news seekers eager to consume well-informed visual journalism. While neither is actually gone, there are fewer and fewer places where they can meet—similar to an extinction event due to a lack of water. Photographers can no longer quench the public’s thirst for news images because there are no more watering holes.
It’s time for photojournalism to break free from its symbiotic relationship with news publications, which is proving to be detrimental, much like an abusive marriage. Photojournalism should take cues from the success of video journalism, which has found new platforms to carry its message. Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram offer spaces where anyone can discover and share video news without relying on inexperienced, budget-tight gatekeepers. Granted, these platforms can host dubious content, but perhaps that is exactly where photojournalism needs to be, rather than behind a well-guarded, isolating paywall.
Photojournalism still waits for its traditional mentors—the news media—to find a solution. It imposes artificial boundaries on itself, dramatically limiting its reach and effectiveness. Even as platforms like Instagram or WhatsApp have gained immense popularity as sources of image consumption, photojournalists have continually dismissed them as being too lowbrow. Yet, with a savvy strategy, one can achieve far more views and impact with a well-crafted Instagram strategy than by being published in all the magazines in the world. But such strategies need to be built thoughtfully, not as an afterthought.
And that’s the challenge for photojournalism: finding the right format to fit the right medium.
New mediums require new formats and new grammatical rules, which photojournalism needs to learn. It needs to understand which story fits where for which audience. In the same way audiences select their content, photojournalists need to select their audience via their media of choice. Yes, even TikTok if it suits the story. Why not? That’s more views than TV Guide at its peak.
So What’s the Answer?
Bring photojournalism to the XXI century by shedding its overbearing grammatical and structural chains:
Escaping the traditional photo essay/reportage format that benefited its magazine era but is now suffocating it. There are no more double-page spreads; in fact, there are hardly any horizontal formats left. The opening image, the close-up—all these refer to layouts that have long died. Even the concept of a photo essay is becoming obsolete. If you’re lucky, you might get a slideshow on a news website, but it does not care about your carefully crafted visual narrative. Each image boringly pushes the other away, and the format really dislikes verticals. Think in powerful unique images. Tell a story in one image.
Reduce the over-reliance on captions. Captions should complement well-crafted images, not serve as their explanation. News images ought to be easily understood without text, particularly when published in a relevant context. Depending too much on captions can lead to uninspiring visuals. By minimizing this reliance, photojournalism can seamlessly integrate into fast-paced media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest, where quick visual comprehension is crucial. Embrace the use of idioms, symbols, and signs to convey meaning visually.
One major barrier for photojournalism to break free from its restrictive ties with traditional news media is the issue of credibility. Previously, a news image had to be published by a well-respected publication to be considered credible. This is no longer the case.
With the adoption of frameworks like Content Credentials or Liccium, photojournalism can now self-certify, eliminating the need for third-party authenticity checks. As support from traditional news media dwindles, it’s essential to transition to a platform-agnostic approach. News images should stand as self-validating units of truth, accessible and shareable across any platform, at any time. The primary focus must shift to maximizing impact and raising awareness.
Finally, we can mimic the advertising world. For decades now, it has relied on AI to analyze and understand what images work, where, and for whom. Why not use the same data to create more impactful content targeting a specific audience? After all, aren’t photojournalists also selling (in this case, a story)? This data-powered visual approach can also serve in determining ahead of the shoot which platform would have the most impact as well as recommending format, dominant colors, and publishing platforms for maximum impact and reach for a targeted demographic. Thus, instead of relying on who will buy your reportage, become proactively active in reaching directly to the core target for maximum reach and impact. Go after the audience instead of waiting for it to come to you. Yes, ethical clickbait photojournalism.
And the Money in All That?
As we have all witnessed, in this world, audience equals money. If you can raise an audience, you can convert it into income. Magazines have lived off this premise for decades, so why not photojournalists?
The landscape of media is not just changing; it has already changed. Traditional news media, once the lifeblood of photojournalism, have become its chains. If photojournalists continue to cling to outdated formats and channels, they risk irrelevance in a world where content is king and distribution is queen. We must seize the tools of our era—data analytics, mobile platforms, social media—and wield them not just competently, but with groundbreaking creativity. Photojournalists must become their own publishers, their own advocates, and, most importantly, their own validators. The time for waiting is over. The time to act is now, using every tool at our disposal to ensure that the stories that matter don’t just survive but thrive. Let us not be content with mere adaptation. Instead, let us redefine the very essence of what it means to communicate visually in the digital age.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
About the author: Paul Melcher is a photography and technology entrepreneur based in New York, and the founder of Kaptur, a news magazine about the visual tech space. You can find more of his writings on his blog, Thoughts of a Bohemian. Melcher offers his services as a consultant as well. This article was also published here.