10 Journalism Trends for 2010 ?

Savvy UK journalist Adam Westbrook predicts 10 trends for the profession for 2010.

Excerpts:

1. Lots of new entrepreneurial startups
2. More journalists working with NGOs
3. Journalists moving into the field of training
4. Increased hyperlocal reporting
5. Paywalls in action

See the full list, and watch his expanded commentary, below. Nothing radically new here, but it's a launching pad for smart discussion. Or maybe it's just his Brit accent?



What are your predictions for journalism in 2010?

Truth With A Camera Workshop in Ecuador

We want to pass along some info from Josh Meltzer, an outstanding photographer and multimedia producer, about his upcoming Truth With A Camera international workshop in Quito, Ecuador, from January 9-17, 2010. I heartily recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about photojournalism from one of the profession's most accomplished teachers. Register now, as these week-long workshops typically fill up fast.

Imagine 6-year-old children, running in and out of traffic in the street, trying to sell gum, wash windshields or juggle oranges to earn some change. These children lack education, suffer from malnutrition and are surrounded by a world of danger and loneliness. Now, imagine that your work can tell the whole world who these children are. Your photographs can breathe life into an existence that few people know.

With a population of 2 million, the capital of Ecuador is one of the most modern cities in the country, although the presence of social inequality and the urban poor remain powerful reminders that thousands of people live below the line of extreme poverty.

Our mission is to educate photojournalists, not only in current technologies, but in understanding cultural differences and similarities and to contribute to truth, ethics, and social justice.

Our goal is to reflect honesty, sensitivity, and intelligence in photojournalism, and to use these as tools to inspire, educate, and promote change in the world around us.

Through the workshops, photojournalists will experience international location coverage and develop an understanding of their social responsibility to provide a voice to all members of society while stressing truth and ethics in an effort to bring about social change.

This will not be a vacation. During this intensive week, you will work with Ecuadorian students from some of the best universities from across the country. At the end of each day, you will edit your images with some of the leaders in the field of documentary photography from the U.S. and Ecuador. Your work will be shared with our partnering NGOs, which gives you the opportunity for your work to stand as a witness and defense of the lives of your subjects. It is an opportunity to strengthen your skills while donating your work to an NGO at the same time.

Josh received a Pictures of the Year International (POYI) documentary award this year, and a NPPA Photojournalist of the Year award in 2006.

(Pictured: A photo by one of the Mexican students in Truth With A Camera's first international workshop in Guadalajara, May 2009.)

LINKS:

* Truth With a Camera Website
* Truth Workshop Blog
* Josh Meltzer's Website

P.S. While with the Roanoke Times, Josh Meltzer provided the video for the award-winning "Age of Uncertainty" series, which tackled issues affecting the rapidly growing elderly population ... and those who will care for them. The ambitious project has been showcased on KobreGuide.com .

Ed Kashi: Why You Must Diversify & Collaborate

Visual journalist extraordinaire Ed Kashi shares excellent advice on the LiveBooks Photojournalism Blog today: "To create change, storytellers must conquer multiple media platforms."

It’s not enough anymore to create work for one media platform, especially if you intend to raise awareness about issues or are trying to effect change. Now when I create a new project as a photojournalist or with Talking Eyes Media, the non-profit production company I founded with my wife, Julie Winokur, we have our eyes on expanded opportunities for distribution: the web, social media, books, exhibitions, T.V., lectures, workshops, academic applications, and NGO collaborations. There are undoubtedly even more I haven’t thought, of and we’re always looking for new options.

Kashi emphasizes the necessity for photographers to master the various aspects of multimedia:

To work in this multi-platform landscape, you must develop skills beyond still photography. You should at least be proficient at gathering and editing audio, and preferably you’d also understand video and be able to handle post production to produce a finished piece.

Another advantage of interactivity is that you not only get instant feedback and contributions from your audience (which includes the people whose lives you are reporting about), but also an extra audience boost from the audience itself, who can be eager to share your work, and thus help with its distribution.

This is an important aspect of multi-platform storytelling: It can easily be disseminated to a wide variety of audiences. It also provides the means for those audiences to talk back with the photographer/producer about the work. It is exciting to being able to create a groundswell of interest in this way, by building a feedback loop between the documentarian, their subject, and the audience.

Multimedia requires more collaboration, and Kashi touts the advantages of teamwork -- not only during the creative process....

And what was once a solitary process, working as a still photographer, now takes on dimensions of collaboration, visual explorations, and deeper engagement with my subjects through audio capture.

... but also for disseminating your work...

I recommend that photographers have a vision for not only the the issue you’re reporting on, but also what larger impact you want to achieve and how you see it being distributed and utilized. One key is to work with a great editor who shares your vision and purpose. Editing for a book or editorial essay is vastly different than producing a short multimedia piece. As is curating an exhibition or lecture or teaching tool.

My experience has taught me that collaborating with like-minded people who share my vision and — most importantly — my sense of purpose for the issue at hand is the easiest path to making my vision a reality. I cannot do this alone. Luckily the the working relationships I’ve learned to develop with writers, editors, producers, audio people, and videographers not only help make our projects happen, they also provide creative collaboration that is exciting and deeply rewarding.

Read Ed Kashi's essay here, and be sure to visit his Talking Eyes Media Website.

Also, check out some of Kashi's remarkably diverse work that has been showcased on KobreGuide:

* The Sandwich Generation
See the challenges faced by an estimated 20 million Americans who have to take care of aging relatives.

* Curse of the Black Gold
The Niger Delta is rich in oil, yet Nigerians living there are poorer than ever, violence is rampant, and the land and water are fouled.

* A Meaningful New Mission
Retired Navy officer Rick Koca founded Stand Up for Kids to help homeless teens. In the process of changing their lives, he reinvented his own.

* India's Fast Lane to the Future
A new superhighway linking its four major cities is bringing old and new India into jarring proximity... for better and worse.

* Friends for Life
Timeless tale of two seniors who meet by chance and provide mutual support and affection for each other as they age.

* Arab Christians: The Forgotten Faithful
Followers of Jesus for 2,000 years are disappearing from the volatile land where their faith was born.

Momenta Workshops for Documentary Photography

Momenta director Jamie Rose shares their lineup of upcoming workshops for "quality documentary photography within a practical, real world learning environment."

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David Alan Harvey: The American Family Workshops Series

http://www.momentaworkshops.com/sanfran09.php
http://www.momentaworkshops.com/miami10.php

San Francisco, California from September 25-28, 2009
Miami, Florida from January 8 - 11, 2010

Join David Alan Harvey & Momenta Workshops for aspiring and professional photographers alike. Photographers will work with David Alan Harvey to develop their narrative storytelling during this workshop while photographing on the theme the American family. The tuition for this workshop will include editing sessions with instructors on a daily basis, lectures, workshop materials, slideshows, lectures and a public transportation pass. A final night celebration party and slideshow will be hosted by David Alan Harvey and Momenta Workshops for photographers, subjects and local photographers. An online digital portfolio review by David Alan Harvey is a requirement for acceptance into this workshop. Tuition for each American Family series workshops is $1150.

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Festival! Peru with Ami Vitale

http://www.momentaworkshops.com/peru09.php

Lima, Chinca and Cuzco, Peru from October 18 - November 1, 2009

National Geographic photographer Ami Vitale will takephotographers to experience and document the start of bullfighting and cockfighting season as well as the Senor de los Milagros procession in beautiful Peru. The workshop culminates as Peru celebrates Halloween also known as the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) and All Saints Day, the celebration of loved ones lost over the years.The price includes most meals, in-country transportation and housing as well as one-on-one access to instructors on a daily basis, personal portfolio reviews, in-the-field mentoring, all handouts and workshop materials, plus slide shows and lectures. The price of the workshop before September 1, 2009 is $5394 (US dollars). After September 1, 2009, the cost of tuition will be $5694 (US dollars).

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Myanmar (Burma) 2009: The Art of the Photostory

http://www.momentaworkshops.com/myanmar09.php

Various locations, Myanmar from November 8 - 21, 2010

Explore one of the most mysterious and unspoiled destinations in the world with our internationally renowned photographers and instructors. Beginning in the old colonial city of Yangon, discover a country filled with visually rich city streets, vibrant rural markets, awe-inspiring temples, and peaceful countryside monasteries. Under the guidance of our experienced instructors, you will explore shrines, temples, and captivating cultural scenery bathed in monsoon light will serve as a colorful canvas on which to construct a visual and audio narrative of travel through the region alongside its inhabitants. The workshop fees include all workshop related costs including accommodations, travel and meals (excluding soft drinks, beverages & alcohol) where indicated on the itinerary, daily one-on-one access to an instructor, personalized portfolio reviews, all handouts and workshop materials, daily slideshows and lectures, software and equipment training. The price of the workshop is $4459.

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Project India 2010 : Working With Nonprofits

http://www.momentaworkshops.com/india10-2.php

Various locations, India from January 17-30, 2010

Inarguably one of the most important and influential countries of the next century, and home to one of the worlds most changing social environments; India is the location of our first Project workshop in 2010. Come with us to work with a selection of the varied NGOs and nonprofits that have helped shape India's development projects over the last 50 years. Learn the skills necessary to work successfully and profitably with these organizations in one of the most culturally diverse countries on Earth.The workshop fees include all workshop related costs including accommodations, travel and meals (excluding alcohol), daily one-on-one access to an instructor, personalized portfolio reviews, all handouts and workshop materials, daily slideshows and lectures, software and equipment training. Tuition costs for this workshop is $4320 (US dollars) before December 1, 2009 and after December 1, 2009, tuition is $4620 (US dollars).

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Project Uganda 2010 with Jeff Hutchens & Jamie Rose

http://www.momentaworkshops.com/uganda10.php

Gulu & Lira, Uganda from February 28 - March 13

Our most popular workshop every year proves to be Project Uganda and rightfully so. Working with local nonprofits and local leaders in Northern Uganda to help create a documentary archive of images around their work is a once in a lifetime experience. Each photographer is assigned to a different nonprofit to work with for the two weeks to create a photo story with the guidance of award winning instructors Jeff Hutchens and Jamie Rose. Jeff was nationally recognized for his work during the civil war and Jamie Rose won the White House News Photographers Association's Project Grant for her work with Doctors Without Borders in Northern Uganda. The workshop fees include all workshop related costs including accommodations, travel and meals (excluding alcohol), daily one-on-one access to an instructor, personalized portfolio reviews, all handouts and workshop materials, daily slideshows and lectures, software and equipment training. Tuition for this workshop is $4056 (US Dollars).

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More info at MomentaWorkshops.com. Also: Momenta Facebook Group / Twitter .

'Truth With A Camera' in Guadalajara

There are only 15 spots in the Truth With A Camera workshop in Guadalajara, Mexico, May 23-31. It is led by NPPA 2006 Photographer of the Year Josh Meltzer, a Roanoke Times photojournalist and Fulbright scholar.

(Meltzer's prizewinning "Age of Uncertainty" project, about caring for the elderly, is proudly showcased on KobreGuide.)

Imagine children as young as 6-years-old, running in and out of traffic on a 6-lane highway, trying to sell a piece of gum, wash a windshield, or juggle oranges for change. They lack education, suffer from malnutrition, and are surrounded by a world of danger and loneliness. Now imagine it is your job to tell the whole world who these children are. To breathe light into an existence too few know about. That’s the critical role photographers working with non-profits and NGOs play.

It is exactly what you’ll be tasked with if you join our next Truth With A Camera workshop in Guadalajara, Mexico. At over 5 million people, Mexico’s second largest city is one of the most modern in Mexico, though social inequity and urban poverty remain a constant and painful reality for the tens of thousands who have sunk desperately below an already subterranean poverty line. This is no vacation. During this intensive week, you will be working alongside students from the University of Guadalajara, one of the largest and most respected public institutions of higher education in Mexico.

After each full day of shooting, your evenings will be spent editing your work with some of the leaders in the field of documentary photography from America and Mexico. Your shared assignments, at one of our partnering NGOs, will offer you the chance to be both witness and advocate. A chance to build experience and make a difference – by donating your work to the NGO - at the same time.

Tuition is $1,100, and only $110 for students at University of Guadalajara. Check TruthWithACamera.org for more information .

Amanda Koster's Magical Mystery Tours

Want to go to Guatemala this June? Photojournalist Amanda Koster wants to take you with her. Her traveling band of visual storytellers, which she calls SalaamGarage (for reasons you'll have to visit her Website to discover), still has a few open slots.

SalaamGarage leads trips that combine cultural immersion travel with media storytelling with and for NGOs around the world. Think: humanitourism meets Web 2.0.

Our trips around the world connect participants with international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Participants (storytellers: passionate and not necessarily professional writers, bloggers, videographers, photographers, etc.) commit to creating and sharing unique, independent media projects that raise awareness and cause positive change. We are the media now. Join us.

How does this work:
1. come with us / take a trip
2. team up, create a project with an international NGO
3. travel around the region
4. go home and share the project
5. cause change

Gosh, she makes it all sound so easy! Roll up, roll up for her magical mystery tour.



More info on Amanda's Website, blog, and SalaamGarage blog.