History of Photojournalism: Working In The Digital Age

Blogging has become sort of this norm in society today. The first recognized blog was by Justin Hall, while at Swarthmore College in 1994. A blog could be associated with " traditional news media, topic based blogs related to one's work or hobbies, or blogs for purely entertainment." Blogging was a chance for anyone to have a voice on the topic of their choice. It was unique because anyone could do it and more or less say what they wanted without consequence. As of 1999, Jesse James Garrett made a list of 23 blogs through out the internet. By 2006, according to the Technorati's State of the Blogosphere, a reported 50 million blogs were on on the internet. The continued growth of blogging really had a positive impact of photojournalism as a whole because how often someones work was being read.

Blogging has affected not only photojournalism but also photojournalist. According to Professor Nordell, "an iPhone 5 has 8 megapixels...if the light is okay, you are getting a file that is much larger than when it came out is considered unbelievable." I mention the use of the iPhone here because it's easy access to the internet and camera allows the photojournalist to post their works either via blog or anywhere else. Having an iPhone or any cellular device really that is capable of accessing the internet or a camera is an incredible feat in the digital age. Referring to the digital age mindset, according to Professor Nordell, "it's all about the web and what you can show on the web." So referring back to blogging, the web play's the biggest role. It is easy for the blogger to go out in the field and find what they are looking for and post it immediately. I believe because of this, bigger news source outlets are teaming up with bloggers because of how easy they are to access and how often blogs are being read in this day of age. According to this article, " Mainstream media sources are also teaming up with existing blogs and bloggers, rather than just setting out on their own. Take, for example, the regular posts on CNN.com from Mashable editors and writers. Another good example is the purchase of TechCrunch and associated blogs by AOL, which, while not a traditional media source, is one of the oldest internet companies still in existence. With blogging, it's importance in photojournalism is because of its easy access and the strong connection with mainstream media sources.

Comparing blogging to a Leica camera, the difference between the two technologies in photojournalism is clear. According to Professor Nordell, " the Leica camera was made in Germany...used very small 35 mm film, so with one roll of film you could take 24 or 36 pictures." Comparing this way of photojournalism to technology, blogging is more of the journalism approach where this camera is more of a photo approach. According to Professor Nordell," you could take pictures in the coat, like if it were to be hidden." Although these two are a different form of photojournalism they relate in a way. Blogs are capable of having photos within. That is why blogging is a combination of photojournalism. However, this camera could also be a combination of photojournalism as it takes the photo, the photojournalist could publish it in a newspaper and relate to the news.

Blogging is a new waive of photojournalism that is still popular in today's society. Although it is newer than the Leica camera, they both relate to photojournalism because of how they are used in it. It's important to remember that the root of photojournalism is photo and journalism. They are many different styles of photojournalism, however, most of them will relate to one another in some way. If it takes a Venn diagram to find out, you'll see the connection at some point.