Photography Technology in News Media
Abston Photography
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The earliest newspapers date back to the Roman Empire and were simply handwritten documents posted in public. These early newspapers contained the information of the day such as new laws and general public information. Since the beginning of time, people have also been painting pictures of events in their lives. Some of the earliest drawings can be found on cave walls in various parts of the world. Painting and drawing pictures developed throughout the centuries and is very much part of our world today. Early newspapers featured pictures that were often drawings by an artist. When Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press during the 1440’s, a revolution in information began. The Gutenberg Printing Press greatly increased the speed at which books and other written documents could be produced. It was a simple technology and con-
sisted of individual letters or characters being arranged by hand to produce a plate. The plate was placed into the press and covered with ink and could be used to produce many copies of a particular page. Each page printed was exact copies of each other and inexpensive to produce. Printing press technology was incorporated into the newspaper industry shortly after its invention. Developed in the 19th century, cameras have allowed photographers to capture scenes and events of the world around them. However, these early cameras were quite large and required special chemicals and equipment to process the images into a final product. The technology continued to develop over the years. Companies such as Kodak developed cameras for the average consumer. By the 1960’s cameras became small and light enough that anyone could become a photographer. However, the development of film still
required specialized tools and equipment. Newspapers began using photographs more between 1880 and 1897 due to advancements in technology. A Romanian named Carol Szathmari is considered to be the first photojournalist. The public wanted more realistic representations of news stories and events. Newsworthy photographs were exhibited in galleries or copied photographically in limited numbers. Advancements in printing technology made printing pictures in newspapers a little easier. However, those photographs still had to be scanned in and transferred to printing plates. The process of developing the film and making the printing plates took time compared to today. Computer technology and computer software, digital cameras, as well as the creation of the internet have all worked together to change newspaper printing. Digital photography has revolutionized the photography industry as well as the news media. An engineer for Kodak, Steven Sassoon, made the first recorded attempt at building a digital camera 1975. It was the first to use solid-state CCD image sensor chips devel-
oped by Fairchild Semiconductor in 1973. It weighed 8 pounds (3.6 kg) and only recorded black and white images to a cassette tape. The resolution was 0.01 megapixels (10,000 pixels), and took 23 seconds to capture its first image in December 1975. The Camera was a prototype not intended for production. The first true digital camera that could record images as a computerized file was likely the Fuji DS-1P, which was developed in 1988. It recorded to a 16 MB internal memory card that used a battery to keep the data in memory.
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The first commercially available digital camera was the Dycam Model 1. It stored pictures digitally, and connected directly to a computer for download. As digital cameras became smaller and cheaper it became more common for people to have a camera accessible. This is especially true now that many cell phones feature built in digital cameras. Individuals began taking pic-
tures of events around them and sending them to news organizations. Digital photography has increased the speed of page layout by giving newspapers the ability to take photos directly from the camera and place them on the page through the use of the software. In an article which appeared in the Mississippi Business Journal, Becky Gillette stated, “For newspaper photography, digital cameras have become very popular because of the speed and ease of use. No longer do most newspaper photographers spend hours in the darkroom.� Besides reducing the amount of time spent in the dark room, digital photography has helped to reduce the cost to the newspaper industry. This was done by the elimination of film as well as film development equipment. Photographers also have the ability to review the photos they’ve taken instantly to ensure correct exposure. The use of film often leads to the discovering of problems later when the film is processed.
Many organizations now ask their audience to submit photos of events in their areas. These individuals are often considered as Citizen Journalists who have been greatly aided by the internet. While many newspaper companies see the benefits of internet technology, others see the internet as added competition. Newspapers must be printed and distributed to subscribers as well as retailers. All of this processing and printing of information takes time while the internet allows for breaking news stories to be posted immediately. Michael Stephens from the Columbia Journalism review states, “Editors and news directors today fret about the Internet, as their predecessors worried about radio and TV, and all now see the huge threat the Web represents to the way they distribute their product”. According to Reid Goldsborough, “The relative cost of doing all this is so low that it’s toppling multibil-
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lion dollar old-media institutions and threatening the printed world itself.” Digital photographs can be transferred around the world in a matter of minutes after they are taken. Better technology allows individuals with few photography skills to take very good pictures. The influence of digital photography and other technologies will continue to shape the media industry well into the future.