Last Updated: July 28, 2000
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A note from the president
Photography is at the heart of good journalism
By Richard A. Oppel
When I saw AP stringer Alan Diaz’s photo of the armed INS agent confronting
confronting Donato Dalyrmple as he held Elian Gonzalez, I knew this was
a picture that would be in the running for next year’s Pulitzer for spot-news
photography.
Diaz was prepared for the moment, dashing into the bedroom before the
helmeted agent. He was courageous in the face of danger.
This was photography that aroused many of my local readers. Donna Beth
McCormick of Austin rebuked us for using it, saying, “To provide a positive
image on this situation would have been to have the picture with the father
and Elian.” Meanwhile, retired Army Lt. Col. Dewey “Buzz” White of Fredericksburg,
Texas, suggested “the liberal media” withheld even more dramatic pictures.
The fact that the picture disturbed readers was confirmation of our
role in society. Being there for the news. Describing what we see. Yet
another kind of very important photography rarely gets such attention.
This is photography rich in its capacity for storytelling, for demonstrating
sustained craft over the fluke shot, for connecting to a community and
for motivating citizens.
That is why ASNE is creating the Community Service Photojournalism Award.
We plan to make the first award, which will come with a $2,500 check, at
the 2001 convention in Washington. You will receive more word on the contest
when we mail applications for the Distinguished Writing Awards.
A tentative description: Community Service Photojournalism: Recognizes
a body of work (package, series or special section) that contributed to
an improvement or heightened awareness in the community. This body of work
should bring understanding and arouse community action. We want to acknowledge
the good work of photographers and their newspapers who serve their communities.
Excellent examples abound. The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times published
work by Scott Keeler on “Square Peg, Round World,” which focused on efforts
to bring a mentally disabled man’s struggle to leave a care facility and
to move into the mainstream community with determination and dignity. Photography
by Daniel Anderson of The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.), in
a 1998 project called “Motel Children,” revealed a community of children
living in aging residential motels.
There are many photo contests, but so many acknowledge stunning, shocking
and surprising photos — think of that old rock ’n’ roller Boris Yeltsin.
This new award reaches back to Chris Anderson’s year as president, in which
he emphasized community connection, and reaches forward to Tim McGuire’s
plans to highlight craft skills.
Chris, Tim and the other current officers, directors and the ASNE Foundation
supported creation of this new award. This idea is not without controversy.
Some veteran hands were concerned that my original proposal, which included
a second photo award in breaking news that we later dropped, would water
down or diminish the ASNE Writing Awards, make judging more cumbersome
and perhaps lead to the proliferation of awards for other craft skills.
We listened. We decided not to change the ASNE Writing Awards to a combined
ASNE Writing and Photojournalism Awards. The Writing Awards will stand
intact. The ASNE Community Service Photojournalism Award will be separate.
Present at the advent of the ASNE Writing Awards was Eugene Patterson,
former editor and chairman of the St. Petersburg Times. We asked his counsel,
and he said this: “The photography awards are a very good idea,” wrote
Patterson. “I hope you will proceed with them in a companion contest with
the writing awards, though separate, so as to keep the focus of both simple
and clear.” I am also grateful for the advice and support of Sonya Doctorian,
St. Petersburg Times; Don Fry and Ken Irby, Poynter Institute; Mike Smith,
The New York Times; and two members of my staff, Sharon Roberts and Zach
Ryall.
Our friends at Poynter — including Jim Naughton and Chip Scanlan — have
offered to assist in administering the contest.
The Writing Awards Committee will judge the contest, probably with the
involvement of photojournalists. Details are in the hands of chair Cynthia
Tucker of The Atlanta Constitution.
Patterson had something to say about expertise in judging. There weren’t
any photojournalism experts on the Pulitzer Board back in his days, he
said.
“We didn’t have many music experts on the board, either, but we did
have Vermont Royster who always insisted the music Pulitzer should be confined
to composers whose airs he could whistle.”
Oppel, ASNE president, is editor of the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman.
