This photograph I took of an alleged child support payment delinquent ran on the front page of The Courier. In the following days, our facebook “fan page” received some unexpected reactions to the photo and article. These reactions were from the subject of the photo’s family, and later the subject himself. I have blurred the names to attempt some anonymity, even though to my knowledge these wall posts remain publicly posted on our Houma Today’s facebook fan page, and one of their names is in the article itself. From a photojournalist’s standpoint, I understand why they’re mad. Nobody likes having their private information made public. Now that law enforcement is involved, it becomes a “public” matter, but need it be public in that one becomes the face of a broad and complex issue? I’m glad that I was able to see their opinion, although I would have preferred a sort of mutual communication, not a stab in the unknown that is online communication. What have I learned from this reaction? I’m not sure. I understand why the article and image itself was newsworthy, but it’s hard for me to legitimize the act of publishing an image of someone’s face with the word “deadbeat” under it, true or not. These forms of public embarrassment, given legitimacy by the media, make me feel uncomfortable.
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This photograph I took of an alleged child support payment delinquent ran on the front page of The Courier. In the following days, our facebook “fan page” received some unexpected reactions to the photo and article. These reactions were from the subject of the photo’s family, and later the subject himself. I have blurred the names to attempt some anonymity, even though to my knowledge these wall posts remain publicly posted on our Houma Today’s facebook fan page, and one of their names is in the article itself.

From a photojournalist’s standpoint, I understand why they’re mad. Nobody likes having their private information made public. Now that law enforcement is involved, it becomes a “public” matter, but need it be public in that one becomes the face of a broad and complex issue?

I’m glad that I was able to see their opinion, although I would have preferred a sort of mutual communication, not a stab in the unknown that is online communication.

What have I learned from this reaction? I’m not sure. I understand why the article and image itself was newsworthy, but it’s hard for me to legitimize the act of publishing an image of someone’s face with the word “deadbeat” under it, true or not. These forms of public embarrassment, given legitimacy by the media, make me feel uncomfortable.

It started with a photograph (below) taken by my co worker, Julia Rendleman, at a Relay for Life event sponsored by the American Cancer Society. From this introduction, John and Carolyn shared their story with Julia:  Carolyn Crochet’s great nephew was photographed delivering his Christmas wish list while perched upon Kris Kringle’s lap last year at Coteau-Bayou Blue School. Carolyn, who saw that photograph a few weeks later, quickly realized that the jolly man with the white beard was the childhood friend she had last seen some 54 years ago. “When we were children, we were best friends,” Carolyn, 67, said. “The love I had for him as a child never died.” She and John, also 67, reconnected in January, quickly making up for lost time. He proposed on their second date. She said yes.  From article on houmatoday.com by Eric Heisig. In full spirit of their reuniting, John and Carolyn held a Christmas themed wedding, complete with elves, gift giving and a christmas-tree cake. More photos at houmatoday.com.
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It started with a photograph (below) taken by my co worker, Julia Rendleman, at a Relay for Life event sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

Photo by Julia Rendleman // Cancer survivor John Crochet and his fiance, Carolyn Breaux, both of Bourg, share a hug Saturday during the Relay for Life in Houma.

From this introduction, John and Carolyn shared their story with Julia: 

Carolyn Crochet’s great nephew was photographed delivering his Christmas wish list while perched upon Kris Kringle’s lap last year at Coteau-Bayou Blue School.

Carolyn, who saw that photograph a few weeks later, quickly realized that the jolly man with the white beard was the childhood friend she had last seen some 54 years ago.

“When we were children, we were best friends,” Carolyn, 67, said. “The love I had for him as a child never died.”

She and John, also 67, reconnected in January, quickly making up for lost time.

He proposed on their second date.

She said yes. 

From article on houmatoday.com by Eric Heisig.

In full spirit of their reuniting, John and Carolyn held a Christmas themed wedding, complete with elves, gift giving and a christmas-tree cake. More photos at houmatoday.com.

William Minor came to Schriever, Louisiana. After a quick google search, I learned from other local newspapers that William Minor has also been to Valdosta, Georgia, Martinsville, Virginia, Collinsville, Oklahoma, Jonesville, Florida and Grant, Nebraska.  He says he is biking across the country, making detailed observations and calculations about changing weather patterns. At night, he stays at volunteer fire stations. He also says he was a reporter for the Miami Herald. We chose not to run a story about William Minor because his account of his journey was unverifiable. He had patches from fire stations around the country, but would not give names of people we could contact. He had detailed maps and charts of his climate observations, but later dismissed the same computerized weather observations as inaccurate and fallible. He had pages and pages of notes, but were written in a shorthand that he couldn’t be bothered to translate for us. He wouldn’t tell us where he was heading, or what he was going to do with the story when he had completed it. For a man seeking as much attention as he was, he was very private with information that would have allowed us to understand him. In this one photographer’s subjective opinion, this man had a story to tell, but not one that was appropriate for a newspaper. What is there to say about someone who had accomplished a great deal in biking this far (allegedly from Cheyenne, Wyoming, on this trip), but whose intentions are not decipherable? The experience certainly made me question my news judgement, that’s for sure. So, if you’re a person interested, and you have the time and a bicycle ready to go 3,000 miles on a good set of tires, I invite you to try to find William Minor as he makes his trek through this country. I have a good feeling he will continue to stay at volunteer fire stations, and call up the local newspaper, asking if anyone wants a good story.
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William Minor came to Schriever, Louisiana. After a quick google search, I learned from other local newspapers that William Minor has also been to Valdosta, Georgia, Martinsville, Virginia, Collinsville, Oklahoma, Jonesville, Florida and Grant, Nebraska. 

He says he is biking across the country, making detailed observations and calculations about changing weather patterns. At night, he stays at volunteer fire stations. He also says he was a reporter for the Miami Herald.

We chose not to run a story about William Minor because his account of his journey was unverifiable. He had patches from fire stations around the country, but would not give names of people we could contact. He had detailed maps and charts of his climate observations, but later dismissed the same computerized weather observations as inaccurate and fallible. He had pages and pages of notes, but were written in a shorthand that he couldn’t be bothered to translate for us. He wouldn’t tell us where he was heading, or what he was going to do with the story when he had completed it. For a man seeking as much attention as he was, he was very private with information that would have allowed us to understand him.

In this one photographer’s subjective opinion, this man had a story to tell, but not one that was appropriate for a newspaper.

What is there to say about someone who had accomplished a great deal in biking this far (allegedly from Cheyenne, Wyoming, on this trip), but whose intentions are not decipherable? The experience certainly made me question my news judgement, that’s for sure.

So, if you’re a person interested, and you have the time and a bicycle ready to go 3,000 miles on a good set of tires, I invite you to try to find William Minor as he makes his trek through this country. I have a good feeling he will continue to stay at volunteer fire stations, and call up the local newspaper, asking if anyone wants a good story.

After three meetings with corporate managers, constant staff reminders of impending layoffs and the seemingly perpetual resizing/restructuring/re-editorializing of the 24 or so newspapers owned by this hedge fund, I had to ask a humble question: why were we sponsoring a fireworks show, with pyrotechnic signs of the newspapers’ mastheads to boot?  People don’t pay for news because they see and hear explosions after a baseball game. It’s a nice memory, but it doesn’t make a product more useful. People pay for news because there are good stories in them. When one of my co-workers inevitably receives a pink slip in the next six months, and they ask where all the money went, I’ll know the proper answer: up in smoke.
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After three meetings with corporate managers, constant staff reminders of impending layoffs and the seemingly perpetual resizing/restructuring/re-editorializing of the 24 or so newspapers owned by this hedge fund, I had to ask a humble question: why were we sponsoring a fireworks show, with pyrotechnic signs of the newspapers’ mastheads to boot? 

People don’t pay for news because they see and hear explosions after a baseball game. It’s a nice memory, but it doesn’t make a product more useful. People pay for news because there are good stories in them.

When one of my co-workers inevitably receives a pink slip in the next six months, and they ask where all the money went, I’ll know the proper answer: up in smoke.

I completed my first self-assigned video project for the Oakland Tribune.

Working on this project not only allowed me to consider the technical aspects of video, but also the storytelling aspects. Without a strict narrative to follow (I wanted to keep the time to two minutes, and not report on the game action) I was left to define what a “more honest game” was, to show the heart and feelings behind why all these grown men were dressed in 19th century costumes, playing sports.

I found the team to be really fun to work with, and welcoming to my occasional requests for things like video portraits that I never even used in the final cut. You can tell that these men are passionate about their sport, and are happy to share it with others in any form.

“Chops,” the captain of the team who was interviewed first in the video, mentioned that he’d like to see vintage base ball grow over the years like women’s roller derby has. This is the kind of sport I can see friends and family going for the sheer novelty, but it could easily have the homegrown appeal of other local sports teams. It’s a relaxing, entertaining thing to a Sunday afternoon, and it definitely has a lot to teach in terms of sportsmanship and athleticism.

All seven of my multimedia hats are off to these guys. Huzzah, Colonels!