Critical Photojournalism: Contemporary Ethics and Practices

An essential introduction to the complexities of visual representation, this book offers a critical new framework for understanding and practicing photojournalism in a global digital context.

Critical Photojournalism guides readers through a variety of ethical, technical, and business skills, plus the mental health, self-care and safety considerations necessary to thrive in the field. Drawing on their extensive industry and teaching experience, the authors provide real-world advice on how to navigate the demands of the profession while addressing the impact that photojournalism has on society and ways that photojournalists can mitigate harm. Consideration is given to understanding and disrupting implicit bias and power structures in newsrooms, as well as issues around access, working in breaking news environments and balancing informed consent with varying media laws around the world. In accessible language, this book highlights the importance of collaboration and community engagement in contemporary photojournalism and encourages students to adopt a decolonial approach to their work. Readers will learn to balance the needs for accuracy and thoughtfulness with the priorities of a global, social-media-engaged audience.

This is a key textbook for those seeking a nuanced introduction to visual journalism and/or a fresh approach to their craft. This book is supported by a website which can be accessed at www.criticalphotojournalism.com. The website includes a full-length bonus chapter on video and photojournalism, interviews with professional visual journalists, further tips and tools, and a glossary of key terms.

Tara Pixley, PhD, is a photojournalist, assistant professor at Temple University, USA and Executive Director of Authority Collective. She has been a photo editor for the New York Times, Newsweek, CNN and The 19th. She is a Reynolds Journalism Innovation Fellow, IWMF NextGen Fellow, Pulitzer Center grantee, World Press Photo Solutions Visual Journalism grantee, and Knight Fellow at Harvard’s Nieman Foundation. Tara serves as Vice President of the NPPA Board and was a co-author of the Photo Bill of Rights.

Judy Walgren is a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and chair of the Foothill College Photography Department in Los Altos Hills, California, USA. Walgren worked for decades as a staff photojournalist, photo editor and director of photography at news organizations in Dallas, Denver and San Francisco. Before joining Foothill College, she served as the associate director for the Michigan State University School of Journalism.