Photojournalism for Peace Journalism

The term 'photojournalism' implies telling a story with your photos. A story has a beginning, a middle and an end. We jump into a story somewhere in the middle or the end; take some pictures of whatever is happening at the moment, and then we are on to our next two assignments where we repeat the process. We take slices of life and hold them up for inspection.

Photo form of news reporting where images are used to tell the entire news story. This type of journalism has rapidly gained prominence since violence and aggression has risen all over the world. We had this feature in our work but had only two cameras one was based in Karbi Anglong and the other in Haflong. From this month each of our peace team member is equipped with a digital camera. The camera has been bought with the sacrifice of our team from their personal savings and a small contribution from Tom Mangattuthazhe.

Information shapes and influences people’s perspectives on ethnic, political, economic and governance issues, as well as the best way to deal with, and attempt to transform, these issues; unfortunately, however, there is a lack of proportional and valuable information available to the citizens. Needs information that will allow its population to develop even and balanced perspectives on issues, especially as related to peace and development.

Peace Team believes that the medium of photography and media network can serve to produce positive and simple messages to influence perspectives related to peace; a photography contest and, ultimately, an exhibition, can deliver high-impact and educational messages, and serve to influence the target audience in relation to how they think about themselves and others, as well as their relation to their communities, other communities, and their environment. Further, Peace Team believes that the proposed exercise can teach the audience how to use creative outlets to participate in their communities, express their thoughts, and deal with potential conflict. Through this, photography can play a key role in creating popular demand for both citizen participation and good governance.

We believe that the dissemination of peaceful messages through the practice of, and display of, photography and short movie, is an influential means to promote better relations among various, and at times, contentious, ethnic and political groups / communities.

Guided by the tenets of peace journalism, We will provide, through the medium of this exercise, independent and peace-related information with regard Human Rights, development, and peace building process, through both a photo and short articles and capacity-building exercise related to peace journalism for participants and audiences. Through the proposed project, we will also seek to develop a culture of decentralized community media, providing opportunities for journalists and communities to be involved in a process of peacebuilding, while also providing critical and valuable information that communities can utilize in their political, social, and daily lives. The proposed activity intends to reduce the degree of conflict, promote respect and pluralism, support better communication between government/ elites and communities (and vice versa), and to increase confidence among our communities.

We have been already working with the established network of both communities and journalists in newspaper, and other media, as well as their communities to undertake the proposed project.


Objectives
With the assumption that free, fair, and unbiased information is the ‘bottom line’ of peace journalism, this activity is intended to:

(1) Promote sustainable peace by eliminating conflict; promote respect and peaceful coexistence.

(2) Build and shape community perspectives related to peacebuilding.

(3) Provide communities with images messages that represent peoples efforts to both preserve peace and create sustainable development.

4. Planned Activities

1. Initial Preparation.
We will conduct initial preparations for our staff on the management and implementation of the project.(Already completed)


2.Purchasce of Digital Camera

All our Peace Team members are with 14 pixel Fiji camera worth Rs.5750 (Already Completed)


3. Workshop on Peace Journalism through Photography, Facebook, SMS, email, blogs etc. (Already completed)


4. Photo exhibition by Peace Team.
We will conduct a photo exhibition for our staff and others. The theme of the competition will be peace building.(Date to be announced later)




Tips on Photo Jounalism

Types of shot : * Close-up shot – best to capture facial expression * Upper body shot or Mid-range Shot – picture of a subject doing something * Long Shot or environmental portraiture – the whole subject in a scenario 9/23/2010 20 norebel-paper adviser's training/photojournalism

Composition of a picture: Composition of a picture: is the combination of all elements to form a whole * Rule of thirds *Point of view * Simplicity * Framing * Texture * Leading Lines.

Picture format. Picture format: Vertical format Best for pictures ranging from full length portraits to tight facial close ups Can give added impact Horizontal format Best for group pictures.

Take more than one shot in different angles on the same scene. Take pictures of exhibits with people viewing the exhibits. Be alert in taking unusual pictures.

Prefer action pictures showing: * struggle * action * emotion * romance * oddity * beauty * humor.

Avoid : * ribbon-cutting pictures * handshaking during awarding ceremonies * posed pictures (firing squad) * group picture that say nothing * speaker – face hidden by mic.

Parts of a Caption. Parts of a Caption : Catchline – brief; catchy title; all caps; - bold face * Body – explains/describes pics ; italics; bigger font than the text of the news story * Credit – attributes the source of the picture.

Caption Writing Tips

Be brief and to the point. Use simple, short caption. Supplement and explain the picture.

Do not repeat lengthy facts found in the article. Do not omit words – important to smooth reading. Identify the people in the picture.


Be accurate with names. Check the number of persons as written in the caption. Tell when and where the pic was taken.

Use present tense to describe action. A half-body pic should bear his surname as caption. Vary caption type from the body type.


Sarah Phangchopi
(Peace Team Coordinator)
Sources::
http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/askverma-917649-photojournalism/