Photojournalists are Reporters Too

Justina Grant
Photo Editor, the North Star



In the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, it is stated that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech or of the press…” Most journalists are familiar with this freedom, considering how they are the press, and they freely write stories and columns to exercise this freedom. However, journalism doesn’t stop at stories and opinion pieces. Another element of the press that some people may overlook is photojournalists, or photographers. How many people look at a newspaper or magazine that doesn’t include photos? Are there even any newspapers or magazines in existence that don’t have photos? Not that I’m aware of. What draws readers’ attention to a particular publication isn’t usually the small black text organized neatly into columns, but photographs of the subject matter. Photojournalism is journalism, and photojournalists are the press.
Restricting photojournalists from taking or exposing harmless photos that are taken in public places is the exact same thing as censoring a journalist from writing a story in a publication. It is both illegal and unconstitutional. Last summer, a photographer in downtown Silver Springs, Md., was reported to the management office by a security guard who said that there was no picture taking allowed in downtown Silver Spring. According to the story on NowPublic.com, the man said to the security guard “I am on a city street, in a public place -- taking pictures is a right that I have protected by the first amendment.”
The photographer was right. Although the property was said to be privately owned by the Peterson Company, it was still bought using some public money and was actually leased to the Peterson Company by Montgomery County. Technically, the area was public, and angered photographers gathered at the spot later on to protest the injustice.
Even photos of a high school sporting event, there have still been cases of people in charge of the event telling the photographers that they could not publish the photographs that were taken. Americans must be more aware of the First Amendment and the rights that it instates. Freedom of the press involves both reporters and photojournalists, so neither can be legally censored.