we've all heard about the stories that we've heard about newspapers using photos in their pages and failing to either inform or ask permission from the photographers. it's really an unscrupulous practice that some of these publications have been, unfortunately, involved in.

but just the same, i would like to ask for your thoughts on (for lack of a better term) freelancing for these same publications, and seeking some form of payment from them for printing your photos.

to be more specific, i'm very much into sports photography, and i was just thinking of submitting my photos to some of our current dailies for them to add to their current stories. is this a good idea? will i (can i) get paid for these photos?

what i'm also concerned about is retaining ownership of the shots i do submit to these newspapers.

hoep someone can fill me in - maybe even someone who's in the media? thanks!:Grin:

hmmm, i guess that with the lack of replies to my original post above, freelancing for any of our national dailies isn't a very popular practice, eh?

well, i can understand this if the newspaper companies are looking after their own photog pool. if they open themselves to photo contributors for their key sections (like sports), it could negatively impact on their existing staff.

Mark,

Sure, you can submit photos to them, they'll get published. But if you're not in their list of regular correspondents / contributors, don't expect to get payment. And if you want to be their correspondent, you'll be able to submit only to one newspaper. And they'll pay you cheap you'll be ashamed of yourself, as if that's all you're worth. Barya lang.

Copyright, afaik, if you're not part of the paper's regular staff, then copyright is yours. Unless you signed a contract with them that says otherwise.

I once worked as a staffmember of a Makati-based daily for years, but I was a news writer then. Then I resigned to go home to Timbuktu, and became a correspondent (meaning, no regular salary, depends on my contributions per column inch if it's a story, or if photo lands on page one or inside pages). An editor demanded we also submit our negs (this was a few years before digital), coz they're paying for the pictures daw naman, and refunding expenses for film and developing. In the correspondents' meeting, I told him ... "But whose camera are we using? Film's the cheapest component." I did not submit my negs, others did I think. I'm glad I didn't. Who knows I can publish a book with these? I have a photojournalist friend who was martyred in Jolo. (Maybe you've read about him in the papers a few years back.) His family couldn't even get his negs. They would have wanted to publish his book.

I've stopped contributing articles and photos to newspapers. The wires call me every now and then when there's some earthshaking events here in Mindanao. They pay higher than the papers, but still, I find it cheap. So I almost do not send photos to them anymore. Which is to say, I seldom shoot news these days. I'd rather go for documentary projects that don't come too often, but one project you do for just a few days will earn you equivalent to a year or two's worth of shooting for newspapers.

Bobby T.

Mark,

Sure, you can submit photos to them, they'll get published. But if you're not in their list of regular correspondents / contributors, don't expect to get payment. And if you want to be their correspondent, you'll be able to submit only to one newspaper. And they'll pay you cheap you'll be ashamed of yourself, as if that's all you're worth. Barya lang.



really? so i guess free-lancing for any of our local national dailies isn't that great of an option, especially if you're expecting to be well-compensated for your contribution?

but just out of curiosity, aren't there international news publications that do pay free-lance photographers to provide them with photos that are eventually published?

how about magazines? how much sholud you charge for a freelance job. studio shots and events coverage?