Assignment #12, Wiatrak

Kim Brent's talk with our class was extremely insightful. It was interesting not only to hear about her personal perspectives and experience, but also to evaluate how the job of a journalist can change so drastically depending on what area of the U.S. they're based. Hearing how Texas is not only behind on testing but shutting down testing sites anyway wasn't news to me, but her concerns about being a journalist/photographer in the midst of COVID-19 struck me in a way other news about the pandemic hasn't. While it was nice to hear how Brent's editors were concerned about her team's wellbeing and safety, it still didn't seem like proper, effective precautions were taken--but are they able to be taken? She was absolutely right in saying photographers are simply unable to do their jobs from home like writers and reporters typically can. I also resonated with her thoughts on how being a journalist amid this crisis is especially hard when communication can be so easily insufficient, which must be especially frustrating when corporate is still pushing for clicks and revenue that will hardly reach pre-COVID numbers.
What stuck with me most from her discussion with us, however, was the challenges of practicing photojournalism out in the open amid the pandemic. The 6-feet bubble can't be so easily avoided when needing quality photos. And then with the necessity of face masks, it's more difficult than ever to determine people's emotions and reactions in these photos, which are key to any sort of storytelling. The combination of this distance from people and lack of emotion that's able to be conveyed--it makes for a very difficult job as a photojournalist.