When is a photo a "file photo"?

After a day? A week? A month? A year?

Do you have an actual policy on this at your joint?

 

We don't have an actual policy. But, I'd say we take "Photo by XXXX" out and just use File photo after around a year. I usually keep the name of photographer in until that point, but always clearly point out in the caption that the photo was taken at an earlier data/not at the game the story is about. I rarely use photos in that situation though. I usually have up-to-date art from other games and don't really need to use older photos.

 

Pretty sure the only policy we have is that it gets credited as a file photo after the photographer has left.

I go two ways with cutlines: Every now and then I'll write my own cutline that references info in the story. I don't use dates in those instances. Mostly, though, I'll use the cutline from the file info and make sure to give the exact date.

On a side note, I just realized that I need to be more consistent in how I use cutlines. Probably need to do one or the other for the sake of consistency.

 

when the photog doesn't leave any info in the cutline, including his/her name.

 

Simple - When it's pulled out of the files and not a fresh shot, whether it has run or not. I'm a news-side beat reporter and about a year and a half ago, they handed me the camera and said I'm the photographer, too. Along the way, I've shot photos of key people and key buildings and electronically filed them.

Voila - file photo.

 

Generally, we use FILE PHOTO if the photo has been used before, if the photog has left the paper or if it is a really old photo. In the latter case, we use the year in parentheses unless we use the date withing the cutline itself.

We always tie our cutlines in with the story, unless it's a live shot with a live gamer, and we still try to do so in that case. You really should do the same Jayvee. Nothing drives me more crazy than reading "Jayvee Fartknocker sacks Wicked Wood in a Dec. 12 game ..." when you could say "Jayvee Fartknocker, who has 10.5 sacks this season for Butthead High ..." And if it's a basketball shot from a live game, don't tell me Jayvee Howard shoots over Wicked Waters in a game. Tell me how many points he scored or something. Doing otherwise is just lazy (excepting any time constraints).

 

We don't use "file photo"...we just say "Hometown News Photo"

 

It's very inconsistent, but one major factor seems to be when we've previously paid for the shot.

 

This would rank very very highly, perhaps even #1, on the list of things newspaper people obsess about but mean absolutely nothing to any reader anywhere ever.

 

"Obsess about"? It's a legitimate question, though not one that has any real wrong answer. All depends on paper's style.

 

What's the benefit of "file photo?" Just to piss off the photographer? If the photo is old or has already been used, why shouldn't the photog still get credit?

 

Good question. I guess the only real reason to use it is to acknowledge that it is not a recent photo. And as for photogs who have left the paper, it would be tough to say SNARKSHARK/TRIBUNE STAFF, depending on the paper's style, since the photog is no longer on the staff.