Photojournalists, how do you find the news?

So, if there are any photojournalists here, could you give away your trade secrets how you find the breaking news?

Carry around police scanners? Have contacts? Any advice I could get would be very helpful.

Thanks
-Jeremy

 

Both. I have a scanner in my truck plus I have made friends with EMT/ fire rescue by donating them images . That helps a lot! Also just friends who will call me on the cell phone if they come across /or hear of something going on.

 

Most people I know over here simply work for news agencies or papers and are called and sent where the action is.

no idea about freelance work.

 

Your right about those type photojournalists

I'm freelance so you got to work a little harder, make friends.

 

whats your definition of "breaking news"?

 

accidents, fires, gang shootings, bank robberies.

I am not worried about it being dangerous or not.

I guess maybe I should befriend some criminals, lol.

 

I guess all the photojournalists I know are employed by a newspaper - so their boss tells them where to go.

 

Police scanner is one of the best tools out there.

 

YOu mean the police are not on a banned frequency with scrambed communications as in the UK?

 

Not here, they do have channels that are not broadcast as well as landlines that they commonly use but, the inital call with all the important information always goes over the standard frequency.

That is how I found out about this minor little occurance

http://www.photo-lucidity.com/pic-261.html

Had I not missed the deadline it would have been front page of the local paper.

 

Get with your local editor and see if you could be an official unofficial photographer.

I don't know of any newspaper this side of 1950 that can afford all the personnel that they need. Might help to get you published too.

 

Mike,

The problem with being officially "unofficial" is that the newspaper would probably not want to send him on any breaking news due to liability problems. "Well, my camera was smashed and I was beat up and they sent me there" that type of thing. We (the AP) ran into that during the Rodney King riots in L.A. and it cost dearly. As a freelancer running on your own, the company doesn't incur that type of liability and will happily look at photos.

Penfold1 can possibly get work at the local paper without being an employee, but it most likely would be working for their neighborhood sections. That's relatively small potatoes, but it's a good introduction to newspaper work and will also give the brass a chance to see his work, perhaps leading to a part-time or full-time job.

Jerry