Posted on behalf of Kellan O'Neill:
In May of 2005, the Houston Chronicle takes a look back into one of the worst photojournalism moments of all time, the “Mistake By the Lake”. It is the story of Mike Gallagher, a reporter for a television station in Pennsylvania, who experienced a life changing injury in a Dec. 18, 1988 NFL game at the old Cleveland Stadium.
After attempting to capture the photo that would snag headlines and front pages of magazines and newspapers across the nation, Gallagher found out what it was like to be tackled by two professional NFL players. Too close to the action, Gallagher collided with two players in the back of the end zone, forcing him to have over 31 surgeries and spend thousands of medical bills.
Now we all have a laugh or chuckle at the expense of a sideline official, cameraman, or reporter being taken out by a player near the sidelines or the back of the end zones in an NFL game. It fairly humorous when their legs are cut out from beneath them, right? But when it is all said and done, what are the reporters and journalists really trying to do in the long run? They are trying to get that huge story or monumental photo that is on the cover of every magazine/paper on the newsstand the following morning.
The issue at hand is, are these reporters getting too close to the game to the point where one they put themselves in harms way, in addition to endangering the safety of the players? Do reporters on the sidelines ruin the on going play of the game itself? Is it truly worth it for these reporters to sacrifice so much for newsstand glory? And finally, as fans, is that all we look for in a magazine or newspaper article? Are the headlines and cover photos all that influence us to get up on Monday morning and read about the following games on Sunday?
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9 comments:
In response to Kellan’s post I do agree that photographers are getting too close to the action. They sometimes remind me of the paparazzi stalking Britney. As a fan I love seeing some of those great catches and tackles on the cover of the sports page the next day but not at the cost. Not only do they pose as a distraction to the players but they are a danger to the players. I know it may not seem like much when a heavily padded football player gets pushed out of bounds into a photographer but there is always a chance of injury. It almost seems insane to me that someone would be willing to risk their life for the perfect photo. Now, after reading the chapter and Kellan’s comments I got to thinking; do we see the same reaction from the photographers during a NFL regular season game that we did during the former WUSA Soccer matches?
Chapter 6 discusses the difference between reporting on men’s and women’s sports. For a while women’s sports received less coverage than horse and dog racing. It wasn’t until 1992 that women’s sports surpassed the animal ratings. Now my question is, would photographers be as willing to make the sacrifices for the perfect shot in a New York Liberty game that they are during the New York Knicks game (of course not taking into account the poor showing the Knicks have had this season)? Unfortunately, I think the photographers go where the reporter tells them to and unless the reporters are ready to give women’s sports the chance they deserve, no photographer will be courtside behind the basket waiting for Lisa Leslie to come plowing through them.
The hazards of the perfect shot during a game extend well beyond the photographers and players and stretch onto bystanders on the field as well. I remember seeing footage about a year ago of a four year old boy tackled down to the ground by a college football player completing a touchdown (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkXXBVjundA). The child received about thirty stitches on his head, which was an unfortunate and unnecessary injury. The vulnerability of injury is too great for untrained photographers and civilians on the sporting battlefields. Because of the potential dangers, it is safe to say that only game-related professionals should be permitted onto the various sporting gaming fields and courts.
The sad part is that it will probably never be that way. This new age of American culture depends too much on that perfect shot of a game changing, or game winning play, touchdown, home run or goal. For sports fans that missed games and read the paper or Sports Illustrated, a perfect photo can capture the entire essence of the game that they missed. Vivid sports writing, such as the article “Sports for Art’s Sake” by Heywood Broun, is too time consuming for the fast-paced American audience to read, although the imagery presented by Broun paints a perfect picture of the fight that night in 1921. In the eyes of modern American culture, even the most descriptive articles cannot compare to a picture or clip of the actual moment. Because of that, the reward of the photo outweighs the risk on the field or court.
I would agree that photographers are getting in the way of sports to a certain extent. Obviously out of the major sports in the United States, it is only football and basketball that have these problems. Hockey and baseball have photographers either behind boards or in a designated photographers well.
As for football and basketball, these photographers are trying to do a job. They are obviously not there to interfere but there is always the occasion where a player may run into them injuring either the player, photographer or both.
I think this is more of a problem in basketball, where the photographers are sitting right under the basket along the baseline. It is a very dangerous location to put the photographers, but that is where the best pictures can be captured. If there is anyone to blame for that, it is the NBA and not the photographers who are doing their job.
In the NFL, the photographers are mostly sitting a long the wall in the back of the endzone. On occasion a player will overrun the endzone and hit a photographer but I dont see anything wrong with the location of them because if they were not there, the players would be running into a wall anyway.
Sports is a very big business and there is a lot of money surrounding sports. I could be wrong, but I don't think these photographers are as crazy as we think they are. I don't think they are there to risk their life to get the perfect shot. There is as much risk to being an on field/court photographer as there is to being an athlete in the game.
In the end, it's a business and just because every once in a while there is a athlete/photographer collision, I really don't think its somthing that needs to change because the photographers are not directly affecting the game.
No shot for a newspaper or magazine article is worth anybody's health or life. Pictures in a sports article are definatley important, especially if it's a great play in the game or the winning touchdown. There's no doubt it adds to it, BUT it is not everything and it shouldn't be everything. I think it is more important to read about what happened than to see a picture.
Nevermind the risk of football players being injured, because they have tons of gear on. But for a photographer or journalist to be hit like that by two football players is even more dangerous. With the technology that we have today with cameras especially, there is plenty of opportunity to get a great shot without jeapordizing being seriously hurt.
As unfortunate as this is, people breaking bones and having 30 plus surgeries, these are the pictures that pay the bills. When they say a picture is worth a thousand words, they should say a picture is worth a thousand dollars(or a couple thousand.) Heck, the first pictures of Shiloh Jolie-Pitt in 2006 went for 4.1 million dollars to People magazine. I'm sure some sports pictures can go for a pretty penny. Think about the truly amazing sports moments caught on film: Michael Jordan slamming a dunk from the foul line, tongue wagging out. Brandi Chastain on her knees in her black sports bra after ripping her jersey off after scoring the winning overtime penalty kick over China in 1999. I'm sure the photographers who snapped these shots have made quite a bundle on these photos. It's unfortunate that some photographers get hurt on the sidelines, and I don't think it's worth it. It wouldn't be my choice of profession. However, they chose to get that close to the action, risking getting hurt, for the sake of their job. To do their job right. It's just like any other job that has risks, if you have the passion for it, you take those risks because you love what you do. Currently, photographers are still allowed to get that close on the field or court or whatever playing surface they happen to be working at that day. Maybe in the future, if there are too many players or photographers getting hurt, they'll stop allowing them to get to that vantage point. But now it's become a part of the game, they're expected to get that shot. It's what they're getting paid to do. Technology is improving all the time though, maybe soon we'll invent a camera lens that doesn't require photographers to get dangerously close. Hopefully, there won't be too many more stories like Mike Gallagher's. Maybe they should start signing release forms before they march out just feet from the action.
There's absolutely no question that sideline photojournalists put themselves in harms way with every game that they cover. That being said, we all put ourselves in harms way each day that we get out of bed.
The world is unpredictable and it can all come to an end in the blink of an eye. Sure, from time to time there are unfortunate accidents on the field of play that not only affect the players, but also those who cover the game...and even the fans. However, when you stop and think about the thousands of plays that take place each season and compare that to the number of photojournalists who are injured on the sidelines, I think you'll find that the odds favor those on the sidelines.
Mike Gallagher's injuries were unfortunate and not something that I would wish upon anyone...but the point is people get hurt every day...people die every day...it's part of life and you never know when it's going to happen.
A photojournalist has responsibilities the same way someone with a 9-5 job has responsibilities. All jobs are different and have unique requirements. If you feel your job risks aren't worth it, you should probably find a new line of work. No one is forcing these people to become photojournalists and roam the sidelines looking for the "perfect shot." It's a life choice and chances are, these people enjoy what they're doing. If this job was as dangerous as we make it sound, we probably wouldn't have as many great sports memories as we do.
Photos are powerful because they have the ability to capture the moment. In sports we live and die with the moments that make us cheer, boo, cry, gasp, etc. Without photojournalists we wouldn't have something tangible to help remember those precise moments. That's probably part of the rush of being a photojournalist.
Great things come with a catch. If everything was easy and "no risk," we'd all do it. Photojournalism is no different. It has it perks but it also has its risks. That's just life.
Being the best in journalism sometimes means taking chances. The competitiveness of the profession demands that the one outstanding story or photo that captures the true essence of the subject is the one that gets printed. Readers want to see the emotion in the player’s eyes. They want to see a grimace or smile on the player’s face and the occasional drop of sweat beading tenuously on their eyebrows. Photos that capture the innermost feelings of pain, sorrow, exhilaration and joy are not taken from the fifth row of the grandstands.
There is an old saying, “You pays your money, you takes your chances.” As so many photographers have done in the past, Gallagher knew the risk he was taking in search of that one award-winning photo. Was it a stupid thing to do? Possibly so, but the human ego is a powerful driving force. Gallagher survived his ordeal with repairable injuries, but many photojournalists have paid the ultimate price in their quest for the photo of all photos. Some 135 photojournalists were killed in action during the Vietnam War.
Ego is not the only motive for injecting oneself in harms way. Photos that make the front page are worth more than the ones that sit on the cutting table. Putting food on the table and keeping a roof over one’s head is pretty strong motivation when it comes to taking chances.
Given the up-close and personal way we as consumers enjoy viewing our sports, I think it is very important for photographers to get those great action shots. The first few pages of ESPN mag and SI always have those rediculous spreads of amazing pictures in the front, and it is always the first thing I look at. Given Gallagher's situation being tackled by two football players, i think it is a fairly isolated incident. The technology available these days allows photojournalists to get that priceless, cover page picture shooting from the opposite side of the field. If it meant that much to him to capture that moment, it is own fault he was trampled. Had he been well out of the way and it happened, I might feel more compassion for him. It is no different from a receiver who is willing to go across the middle and get smacked in the mouth to make an important catch, it's occupational hazard. And anyone who says that they are "getting in the way" of these games must not be a large sports fan. The only way our society has been to become this involved and in love with sports is the personality that goes hand in hand with close-up photography and video. If the photographer is worried about their own health, they should have the brains to move the next time two 300 pound men are flying towards them, not try to get that perfect picture.
The story of Mike Gallagher “Mistake By the Lake” came as a shock to me. I think that sport journalists know their boundaries for the most part. Obliviously the reporters are trying to get the best shot of the game, but they have to know to stay out of the player’s way. I think the sport where they tend to get in the way the most is basketball.
The camera men are always right up along the sidelines trying to get in the action, which also puts the players in danger. Just like in football because technically there are no boundaries. I don’t think that the journalists realize that instead of getting the best shot of the game there actually interfering with the game itself.
Before hearing this story I would have always thought that the shot would be worth the harm, but now I realize no shot is worth the chances you are taking as a sideline journalist. To go alone with Kellan’s question from a fans point of view, I tend to read the stories with the most eye catching headline, or the most intriguing picture I see. So really it is just a battle of the wills between journalists. They could not fear it at all because it is their passion, and their goal is to get the best shot at any expense.
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