Staging

Last year one of my (many) showdowns with my high school newspaper adviser was whether or not to run a staged photo of an UPCOMING event. It didn't even make sense to me why we'd try to run a photo of an event we couldn't have even covered yet - it was, after all, a preview. It really bothered me that someone who was supposed to have vastly more journalistic experience than me saw that as an "okay" thing to do, since it added interest to the piece. Though she made my life hell with copy-editing for the next two weeks, I'm glad I fought with her on this. I just can't understand the reasoning behind staging. If you have to stage the photo to make it work, then the story isn't there. If you missed the moment, then you have to actively pursue the next. In the example of the NFL draft party, I'm sure something interesting would happen later on as the people celebrated. Just because you missed the moment with the phone doesn't mean you miss a great story. Otherwise, as soon as the words, "Can you do that again?" leave your mouth, the subjects you're trying to capture automatically view the news industry differently.