Photojournalisim Degree - Is it really worth it?

[Izzy]

I was searching for more info online because I would like to pursue some formal education of some sort (because I thought it would be nice on a resume), but none of the degree classes near me are going in the direction I would like.

The dream you ask. To shoot for a major syndicated publication like Discovery, Nat Geo, etc

Gone would be the days of photographing ugly people and struggling to make them pretty.

J-Schools / Journalism degrees "worthless?" - College Confidential

[mad editor]

Originally Posted by Izzy

I was searching for more info online because I would like to pursue some formal education of some sort (because I thought it would be nice on a resume), but none of the degree classes near me are going in the direction I would like.

The dream you ask. To shoot for a major syndicated publication like Discovery, Nat Geo, etc

Gone would be the days of photographing ugly people and struggling to make them pretty.

J-Schools / Journalism degrees "worthless?" - College Confidential

I don't know what to tell you, Izzy. When I was running a large newsroom and hiring reporters and photographers, I preferred hiring reporters with degrees in English or other humanities who could write. But I had some great J school grads in my newsroom as well. For reporting, instinct coupled with good writing ability was paramount - and that doesn't have to come out of J school. My photogs were people who came in trying to sell newsworthy photos and whom I later hired. Again, instinct and ability. I don't think any of them were J school alums. Now that I have confused you further…

[Izzy]

Starting to think that a police scanner should be the next piece of photography gear I guess maybe the positive side of J school is building a portfolio.

I looked at the core classes I fail to see how advanced math and chemistry will make me a better photo journalist. I think I will start with human interest stories as they always seem to be in short supply.

[Jim Bryant]

Originally Posted by Izzy

Starting to think that a police scanner should be the next piece of photography gear I guess maybe the positive side of J school is building a portfolio.

I looked at the core classes I fail to see how advanced math and chemistry will make me a better photo journalist. I think I will start with human interest stories as they always seem to be in short supply.

Don't want to break your bubble, but, it's really hard to break into that type of magazine market. Infact, it's a Catch-22. With money being "tight" these days and editorial budgets slashed, most of the editors go with photographers who have already proven themselves and have completed assignments for those particular magazines. I know...you're asking......how can I get the experience, if they won't give me a chance? That's where the Catch-22 comes in. If you notice the photo bylines in National Geographic and other magazines, they are by the same photographers over and over again. Ones that the editors can trust to bring back the money shots that tell a story. It's very expensive for them to produce a story, so they go with proven veterans.

Math and Chemistry and other core subjects.......might not seem important to you, but to an editor or director of photography, a degree shows them that you can start an assignment from scratch and finish. There's a lot of research involved working for those magazines as you'll required to do months of research before on a particular subject or country before you'll even be considered for those assignments.

Most photographers are not even considered for an assignment unless they have proven themselves at the newspaper level. Go to a bookstore and pull those National Geographic books, "On Assignment", "Eye of the Beholder", "The Photographers", "100 Years of Adventure and Discovery", "Stay This Moment", "Mountain Worlds", "Images of the World" and some of the others now published. Read the photographers Bios in those books, most of them came from a solid news background.

Human interest stories? Hate to tell ya, there's thousands of other news photographers have already done that. You need to come up with something that nobody else has thought about doing, which is nearly impossible these days.

If you check out the magazine archives, most of the photographers have specialized in a particular part of the world or subject area. You need to get the degree, newspaper experience and then find a niche.