TV station news photographers shoot what happens on the front lines, their work sometimes overlooked or taken for granted in this personality-driven business. Sometimes under-paid, sometimes over-worked, sometimes under-appreciated, local TV news photographers are the foundation of the electronic newsgathering operation. And if you want to be successful at marketing your local TV news, you better know who […]
TV station news photographers shoot what happens on the front lines, their work sometimes overlooked or taken for granted in this personality-driven business. Sometimes under-paid, sometimes over-worked, sometimes under-appreciated, local TV news photographers are the foundation of the electronic newsgathering operation.
And if you want to be successful at marketing your local TV news, you better know who the news photogs are, who the go-to shooters are, and show them the love.
Without their video, we’re not even radio because it’s not just the pictures they have to capture in focus while on the run, but the sound as well.
Apparently, the news photographers at WAVY-WVBT, the NBC and Fox affiliates in Norfolk-Portsmouth-Hampton Roads, Va., do their work well, very well. That team just won the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Station of the Year in the 2013 Best of Photojournalism Television competition, winning the Medium Market Station title for an unprecedented five years in a row.
Jeff Myers, WAVY’s chief photographer for the past 28 years, says his team members are students of their profession. “We study our work, like athletes looking over game films,” Myers says.
He attributes the consistent award-winning photography to a team concept between reporters and photographers.
“We try to tell the best story, with good writing, shooting and editing. Good opening and close, with great, clean, natural sound. We strive to be consistently good in everything we do.”
Myers says his 14 photographers work around the clock to provide the video for 7.5 hours of live news a day.
“Our viewers expect excellent writing and photography. And that makes for good television.”
To read more about the award, click here.
Here are two examples of the stories WAVY submitted to the judges this year. The first is an example in the “spot news” category while the second is an “in-depth” special report example. Below that is the full version of all of the story examples submitted by the station this year.
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