Thursday, May 15, 2008

An Aside: Can I Serve Two Masters?

Something has been troubling me. Greg Moore, the editor of the Denver Post and a trusted colleague, said at some point, I will have to choose between being a print journalist and a photojournalist.

He thinks that I need to focus on only one thing to be good at it. "Great photos win Pulitzers just like great articles," he says. I immediately disagreed with him, explaining that I thought being able to shoot photos and write articles made me more marketable in a changing and troubled media industry.

Honestly, I love being able to write articles in the day and focus on my photography at night, and I think doing both has made me a more whole person. But what if Greg is right? What if dividing my passions will make it hard for me to fully succeed in either one?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you. I believe I am a great if not terrific web designer, and an aspiring photographer who will dominate photography soon. ;) My Director... who is my IT Director AND a minister of his own church - frowns at me knowing that my photography is starting to take off.

PictureYourWorld said...

Hey there Susan. So why would your director frown on your photography when it sounds like he's doing two things as well? Don't listen to him...keep at it! I've seen your work and your photos rock!

Anonymous said...

You have to look at his perspective - he is trying to manage union relationships AND talent pools that don't always have people that can span the gap between them. When you can do more than one thing well, you become a threat to somebody...

PictureYourWorld said...

I think I understand what you are saying C. Greg is in a difficult place right now. While he doubts if I can do both shooting and writing, he is working with the union right to create dual paying positions for reporters/photographers, as well as other new positions such as videographer.

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