4 ms·
Who's funding these entrepreneurial journalists? "The truth" is worth a lot of gratitude and 0 actual dollars.
by jbooth 16y ago
Who's funding these entrepreneurial journalists?
"The truth" is worth a lot of gratitude and 0 actual dollars.
- dkarl 16y agoJournalism is all about advertising, i.e., page views and publications sold. This is one of the hottest topics in the U.S. right now. Nobody likes dry analysis; everyone is eager for a quick, vivid, and emotionally compelling way to engage with the story. Therefore, if you publish more and better pictures than the competition, you'll attract more (non-)readers and make more money.
- jrwoodruff 16y agoSure advertising pays the bills, but you don't think big media knows this? The truth is real news is less and less profitable. Reporting a story like this takes big resources - huge resources if you really want to break a new lede. Ultimately, shooting 100 high school basketball games for zoned publications and a s#%t ton of photo galleries is cheaper and will sell more ads. After all, what company wants their ad next to a photo of a dying, oil-covered bird.
- jbooth 16y agoStill doesn't add up. You're talking about a huge expenditure and significant personal risk in order to hopefully be a viral hit and not just be scooped and republished. Even then, you have to get lucky and pick up an iconic photo, it's not like you're going to find a bunch of great prose in the ocean besides synonyms for "lots of gallons". Why pursue this story instead of one that's much cheaper and will get you only a fewer impressions on average?
- dkarl 16y agoIf the photographers are already in the region racking up travel expenses and trying to charter private planes, expense isn't the problem.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]