THIS ISSUE: APPM news from Darrell Hoemann

Photo success stories: Take a look inside successful photo departments at The San Jose Mercury News, The Los Angeles Times and The Dallas Morning News as staffers from the three newspapers share the secrets of their photography success. One thing all three departments have in common: The photography staffers know they have the support of top management. Click here to read more.

Training update: Check out the latest news on regional photography training for 2005. Click here for a link to APPM's Web site.

Cooperation: Members cited for assistance on AP stories. Click here.

GREAT PHOTOGRAPHERS NEED MANAGERS TO CARE ABOUT VISUALS
Great photojournalism is the ultimate goal of newspaper photography managers. Obviously, it is important to have talented photographers creating the images, but what can managers do to create an atmosphere conducive to success?

A survey of photo managers at three publications known for excellence in their visual report offers insight. The San Jose Mercury News has a reputation for excellence in documentary photography and design. The Los Angeles Times and The Dallas Morning News were represented in the PPY contests at the highest levels.

The groundwork for excellence may start with visual managers receiviing support from the next higher rung of newspaper management.

"Support from upper management is one of the biggest keys to producing excellent award winning photojournalism," said Calvin Hom, senior photo editor at The Los Angeles Times. When Times Editor John Carroll arrived on the scene, Hom said, "he mandated that word, photo and graphics all be equal. All should — and will — have a seat at the table."

Hom said Carroll also brought in a top design staff which has become one of the best in the country and created an associate managing editor for photography as a masthead position. "The upper management belief in photojournalism gives us the ability and power to produce great stories and photos," Hom said.

The leadership of Colin Crawford, associate managing editor, has set the tone for photography at the Times, Hom said. "He expects great work and gets it from his staff. Winning two photo Pulitzers along with numerous other contests in the past two years has obviously added to the prestige of the department. He has a huge amount of respect and confidence from upper management," he said.

In Texas, Ken Geiger, Director of Photography at The Dallas Morning News, agrees that support from the top is a factor. "This is a place where you can do your best work, and the empowerment to accomplish is telegraphed down from management," he said adding this is coupled with a photography department that has "a long history of proactive and cooperative visual thinking, where talented people are encouraged to achieve and capitalize on opportunities to grow."

Mark Damon, photo editor at The San Jose Mercury News, also acknowledges the support of upper management. He credits the deputy managing editor visuals. "His support of visuals overall, and particularly photojournalism has made a huge difference," Damon said.

As to the management style of Mercury's photo managers, Damon says it involves some risk-taking. " We allow photographers to develop and expand on their vision, we give them quite a bit of latitude in terms of style and technique, and we want them to bring their vision into play in the newspaper. We are very supportive of them," he said.

The management style also involves a lot of talking about ideas and letting the photojournalist pursue ideas, he said, "rather than having some kind of guaranteed result."

At the Times, Hom says, "Our style is more of an open door, inclusive policy. We try to foster proactive communication before launching stories. We have a positive, motivating style where photographers are free to talk to managers about anything they want, problems they are having, success they have had, how to get better, how to grow."

Photo managers also try to fit stories to the style of individual photographers, Hom said and "spread stories around to different shooters to keep them motivated and excited about great photojournalism."

Geiger said managers at The Dallas Morning News work to create an environment for the best work and a place for photojournalists to grow. "Excellence," he said, " is a lofty word, possibly perceived as a little arrogant or even unattainable. But when you break down any job or goal into its simplest functions — examine how to best attain incremental steps of excellence — you find yourself looking back on projects with a sense of satisfaction and pride, knowing it doesn't get much better."

It starts, Geiger says, with a good physical working environment, one set up for the ergonomics of the photographic process. "A process not to hinder or stifle creativity, a process where good work is never lost due to method," he said, "a process where consistent growth and nurturing can be accomplished."

Between the director of photography and the photographers, Geiger said, "comes a staff of dedicated, smart experienced journalists, better known as photo editors." Photo editors lead photographers to the opportunities for great photos by recognizing the potential of stories and photographers, he says. The photo editors also make sure photographers are given the time needed to accomplish excellence, Geiger added, "or the humility to identify weakness and critique work so it can reach its pinnacle."

When asked how goals are set for the photography staff, Damon said the goals are a continuation of the newspaper's mission statement. "It's kind of a constant process, in talking about stories, we talk about how they fit into the goals of the newspaper and the coverage we're providing for the community," he said. Whether something meets the overall goals of the newspaper is how the department measures its success or failure, Damon said.

At the Times, Hom said goal-setting is a continuation of the managers' process of matching stories and events with staff members' strengths. "On big projects there is a huge emphasis on editing and feedback," he said. "Often on projects we will send photographers back on stories six times or more to nail the story. The attitude we have is we will continue to work on the project until we have what we need, we will not settle because of a deadline or pressure from a certain desk. The goals for excellent work are set at The Los Angeles Times. Photographers and editors know if they are on a big story or project they are expected to work at an extremely high level and produce top-notch work."

TRAINING NEWS ON THE WEB
APPM regional workshops are being planned for the new year. More details on upcoming workshops and highlights of past workshops can be found at:   www.apphotomanagers.org.

COOPERATION KUDOS
AP member newspapers, broadcast stations and online operations are the cooperative’s eyes and ears on the ground. The quick contribution of tips, stories and images from breaking news helps AP deliver a timely and complete report for all AP members and their audiences. Congratulations and thanks from APME to these members, who will receive APME Instant Citations for their recent help:

KXMC Television, Minot, N.D., where news director Jim Olson called AP Dec. 10 with the first word that a jury found a man guilty of killing a woman in his parents' home apparently after she said something that upset him. Olson also contributed the prosecutor's comments after the verdict.

KFGO Radio, Fargo, N.D., where news director Paul Jurgens called AP with a breaking story Dec. 30 about an investigation into a murder over drug debt.

The Steamboat Pilot & Today of Steamboat Springs, Colo., where editor Scott Stanford contributed information about the crash of an airplane ambulance near Rawlins, Wyo. The crash killed three people.