Know your rights as a journalist especially the First Amendment

           “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” – First Amendment

          While taking photos for an article during a protest, you get arrested. The police officer tells you that you were doing something wrong yet won’t tell you exactly what it is. Knowing your rights may be the only way to get yourself free.

Photo from Cagle Cartoons Inc. The cartoon was located under
 First Amendment Political Cartoon Campaign Ads.

          Going through this assignment I realized that I really don’t know many of my rights as a U.S. citizen. I thought about how many times I have learned bits and pieces of the Constitution and my rights and, still, I know none of my rights by heart.

          Knowing your rights as a reporter is one of the most important aspects of reporting. This protects you, as a journalist, from others infringing on your rights, but it also protects you from violating another person’s rights.

          Journalists should also know that portraying someone in a false light, getting journalistic information in an illegal way, misrepresenting the subject, and publicly disclosing private or embarrassing facts is also something to avoid.

          Make sure that you learn your rights as a journalist and keep yourself protected.

Shooting feature photos was more difficult than I thought it would be

            Feature stories aren't just about taking photos of objects; they are about capturing a part of life that is timeless. These stories allow the more creative side of the news to show.

          Searching for events to cover for a feature story is relatively easy. Looking in the events calendar can offer a variety of occasions to cover. I choose to do a feature photo story on the Evrod Cassimy panel. At the panel, Cassimy talked to journalism students about different aspects of getting into the business that they would have to deal with.

Evrod Cassimy thinks about the question a student asked. Cassimy 
sat on a panel for journalism students at the building Manoogian at 
Wayne State University. (Photos by Angelique Harrison/ WSUPJ)

          The hardest part about covering this conversation was the space where the panel was held. It was in a small room that didn't leave a lot of space for me to move around. I had to get creative with the angles of the photographs because there were limited angles from which to shoot.

Looking into the panel held by the Journalism Institute for Media 
Diversity At Wayne State University.

           One of the major problems that I didn't notice until after shooting was the television in the background of a lot of my photos. It was washed out in alot of my photos and became very distracting. There was really no way to avoid it because it was right behind the subject.

            From this experience I learned to really check the photos, and when it comes to bright object, shoot them a few stops darker to make sure they are properly exposed.

Halea Fisher sits in the car while Luis Shockley

 attempts to jump start his car parked on Warren 
off of the Wayne State University Campus.

            I also had to photograph an enterprise photo, which is a photo without prior planning. This was the hardest part of this assignment. Trying to find an unplanned event was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

            For days I walked around with my camera attached to me trying to find something to photography. I had the hardest time.

            I finally happened upon a student helping another student who had car problems. This was also a hard photo to shoot because I took the photos on a really sunny day. It was hard to compensate for all of the glares and the brightness of the sun.

          From this photo shoot I learned that even what seems like the easiest photographic opportunity, it can give you difficulties.

           I think I have learned that though I feel like I know a lot about taking photographs, news photography is very different. There is no time to set photos up the way I would like. I just had to shoot what was there, and move to a different vantage point if I didn't like what I saw.

           Shooting photos on the fly was very difficult for me. I think that from this experience I have learned that practicing shooting on the spot without prior planning would help better my photojournalism skill.

            For more pictures from this assignment, please check out my gallery.

Evrod Cassimy talks to Wayne State University students about ways to prepare for the world of journalism.