How is the freelancer model impacting photojournalists' learning and development?

Video Abstract for "Freelance Photojournalists and Photo Editors"

Transcript for ADA accessibility: Hello, my name is T.J. Thomson, a doctoral student at the Missouri School of Journalism. Chances are, the most recent images you’ve seen in the news media were created by freelancers. Some of the biggest news media companies in the U.S., including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, each use freelancers for 50 percent or more of their visual needs. Now these freelancers are usually geographically distant. You could have a freelancer over in California working with a photo editor in New York City and they could be communicating back and forth via text, phone, email, maybe Skype. So with this study, I was curious how does interacting with someone through phone, email, Skype, etc., differ versus if you were over there in New York City with them in the same room? So through dozens of interviews with photo editors and photographers, we found out that these mediated communication channels, these non-face-to-face ways of interacting, they impact everything from learning and development to mentoring and diversity. There’s a ton of other findings, too, but I hope you’ll take the time to read the study and find them out for yourself. If you have any ideas for future studies or questions and comments about this one, please send me an email. My address is contact@tjthomson.com.