Photographers are best at showing only their best photos. It’s rare that a member of the outside community gets to see an entire take of a given photo shoot. If anyone bothered to calculate the number frames that never see the light of day in any given year, I’m sure the amount would be astronomical. But, with the unfortunate death of a college football athlete while in training, we get to see an entire photographers coverage of a particular shoot.Â
The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) reports on a case involving the Columbia Tribune Newspaper. A judge has ordered that a newspaper to turn over all unpublished photos taken by a staff photographer, so be used as potential evidence in a trail brought by the players family against the school.
The newspaper editor was concerned that if he appealed and was forced by the higher courts to turn over unpublished photos, it could set an awful precedent against the fourth estate. Namely, the fear was that any precedent set by this case could be expanded against a journalists ethical guidelines which keeps them from revealing sources. In particular, unpublished photos could be compared to being forced to turn over reporter notes.
So in a tricky turn of events, and in a superbly clever manuver designed soley to protect against any precedent being set in this regard, the editor decided to publish the entire 600+ frames shoot by the staff photographer on the Tribune’s web site. In otherwords, the editor has effectively side-stepped the judge, who, now that the images are published, no longer needs appeal an order that anything unpublished be turned over as evidence. As it stands, the case points out that there is no actual law protecting reporters material, and that many journalists would like to see some form of shield law enacted.
See all of the images here. (If you have dial-up service, I suggest brewing a cup of coffee while the page loads.)
