The NPPA has posted an article that delves into the changes currently being experienced on the Internet as it relates to newspapers and magazine.

I think that we are at a crossroads regarding the future of news as we currently know it.

The business model of print publications online versions has, up to this point, been a hit or miss affair.  The dot bomb boom of late 1999-2001 is a history lesson in that regard.  Traditional ad revenue models, ie; banner ads, interstitials, etc have been an annoyance for viewers and in many ways, has been a deterrence to come back to any website that utilizes such an ad model.

Now that newspapers are getting serious, still shooters like myself, either formerly or currently, are getting serious about video and are bringing their unique vision and skillset to the medium and in the majority of instances, are surpassing the TV news crews abilities to shoot and edit under tight deadlines and yet produce a quality product.

No longer are “Crews” needed to cover a story.  The pinnacle of this profession is a part of what I work as - A Solo Video Journalist.

The TV ENG people are now lashing out and are in fear of their cushy jobs - they should be.  We bring more to the table than they do.  They espouse all their knowledge of how to shoot video - yet we photojournalists bring much more - we have shot stills - we understand our viewership more than TV people do - and we are concerned about the craft - not about doing as little as possible to keep our cushy jobs.  We apply that same skillset over to video.  And that has the TV ENG people scared.  I read it all the time.

Being on the bleeding edge leaves one wide open to attack.  But in those attacks we experience, we gain a better understanding of how what we are doing is heading in the right direction.

Otherwise, we wouldn’t be attacked in the first place.