First questions to ask when doing a story

For most of my career I thought I understood communication pretty well. I worked on staffs as a photographer who went out and captured stories.

Here is the basic process of that communication for most of my life:

I captured content, which was the message and I became the messenger using my camera to connect with the audience.

From the first time I picked up the camera in the early 1980s until about 1995 the only way the Audience saw my work was in print. So either in newspapers, magazines, brochures, posters and other printed material this is how I communicated with the audience.

Now all the other messengers I worked with would have competitions through the years and still do. We entered our work [Message] into competitions judged by other [Messengers] and then received our accolades if we won awards.

I won many different awards through the years.

A little side note is I stopped entering many competitions because the people I admired most [Messengers] were not entering those same competitions. I still had my work entered by the institutions I worked with and still won those awards.

I had it all wrong

The problem now with the industry is the jobs are disappearing from those traditional institutions like newspapers. The [Audience] has slowly been leaving. There are many reasons for this, but I believe one problem is as journalists we may have been asking the five Ws:

Who did that?

What happened?

Where did it take place?

When did it take place?

Why did that happen?

I not only was good at asking these questions of the subjects of the stories I also added the sixth question that a seasoned journalist always added–How did it happen?.

Now while I was working on my master's degree in communication I happened to decide to do this at a Seminary. It was actually one of the best things I ever did. I had some of the same core classes that the M. Div. students take. Later when I met my wife she was even able to use some of my library when she did her M. Div.

My communications program was in the school of education and I had to take some basic education classes as well. So what would normally be a one year master program was two years.

Now what I learned in Seminary through preaching classes and the education classes was you really need to concentrate on the audience. The education classes really drove this home to me.

Communication experts pretty much didn't pay as much attention to the audience except to write at a certain grade level. That was about all I ever heard about really getting to know your audience up until then.

It was in the youth education class that I learned when working with high school students you need to really understand where they are coming from. Talking to theater students using sports metaphors are about as successful as expecting a toddler to read my dissertation paper.

We learned that for education to take place the educator [Messenger] had to close the loop. They gave tests that helped the teacher as well as the student to know if the [Message] was received and understood.

Why should the audience care?

We have all been in school and asked the teacher why do I need to know this stuff. Maybe you were lucky like I have been and then had a teacher take the time to help me understand why knowing the material will help me in life.

We need to reverse the process if we want to be effective as communicators. We need to start just like a teacher does and understand our audience. Then we find the stories that are most relevant to them.

Often teachers give tests the first of the year to actually look at what skills the students are lacking that they must know before going to the next grade. Now they know what the audience needs.

NGO Example

Lets say you are working for a NGO as a communicator. You need to always first start with who is your audience and secondly why should they care?

I was helping coffee growers in Mexico communicate to their audience potential buyers of coffee in the United States. But why should someone even consider buying coffee from them versus just buying Folgers coffee for example?

I interviewed an american who had been buying the coffee and selling it in his coffee shop in California. I think he helped me answer the WHY? for the audience. Listen and see if you agree.



Where should you first start when telling a story? THE AUDIENCE

Are you a Br'er Rabbit Storyteller working with nonprofits?

Project Gutenberg's Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit, by Joel Chandler Harris

I grew up listening to the stories of Uncle Remus about Br'er Rabbit. In case you are not familiar with the character of Br'er Rabbit. Br'er Rabbit is a trickster who succeeds by his wits rather than by brawn, provoking authority figures and bending social mores as he sees fit. The name "Br'er Rabbit", a syncope of "Brother Rabbit", has been linked to both African and Cherokee cultures.

You see the animal trickster represents an extreme form of behavior that people may be forced to adopt in extreme circumstances in order to survive. The trickster is not to be admired in every situation. He is an example of what to do, but also an example of what not to do. The trickster's behavior can be summed up in the common African proverb: "It's trouble that makes the monkey chew on hot peppers."

Working for Free

There are some very good reasons to work for free or donate your time and resources to a nonprofit organization. Being altruistic is truly the best possible reason to give of your time and resources.

Another great reason to donate is that when you offer to give your storytelling skills to an organization you are more likely to remain more in control of the project and therefore more likely to do your best possible work that you can produce. Many personal projects that I have seen done through my career by photographers were altruistic acts of kindness.

There are countless people who launched their careers by giving away their work for free and using these projects in their portfolios to get work.

I actually do encourage those who have no real portfolio this is the way to build your portfolio. You find something you are passionate about, which often might be something that a nonprofit could use. The advantage of doing this early in your career is they can provide you the access necessary to put together a project that will showcase what you can do for clients in the future.

Almost no one will spend the travel expenses and let alone actually pay someone to produce something if they do not have GREAT examples.

Business Model Changed

There are just a few things that have impacted photographers doing work for nonprofits.

• Stock Photography—years ago a photographer could go overseas and shoot and then come back and put images into a stock agency and make some pretty good money. It was very common for photos to sell from $350 up to many thousands of dollars. Today with people giving their photos away for free through things like Flicker this has dried up as an income source. It was not uncommon for a photographer long ago to shoot for free and due to the access make money and lots of money from the stock sales later. This revenue stream dried up years ago.
• Digital—Before digital you had to really know photography skills because you would have to wait till the film was developed to see the results. Now with the LCD on the camera you can see right away and adjust instantly to be sure you have a photo. So where many organizations would pay for a pro just because they needed to know they had photos, but now with digital they just look on the LCD for that confidence.
• Good Enough—this is what social media has contributed the most to for our industry. People are seeing that OK videos and photos are getting traction and that great photos and videos do not always get more traction for going viral. 
• Baby Boomers Retiring—many people are retiring and wanting to just donate their time to doing something worthwhile. Most nonprofits are welcoming the volunteers with open arms and enjoying the free rather than worrying about the quality.

What to do & What not to do

When it comes to working with nonprofits I am seeing more and more Br'er Rabbits. A good number of storytellers will contact a nonprofit and even do outstanding work that in the long run doesn't really help sustain the nonprofit.

I have watched most of my career the demise of professional communicators and especially those in journalism. Loving what we do and feeling called to do it has many of us behaving like Br'er Rabbit. Br'er Rabbit represented the enslaved Africans who used their wits to overcome adversity and to exact revenge on their adversaries, the White slave-owners.

I am not seeing anyone planning revenge, however, I am seeing people do just about anything they can to do storytelling.

There are many hobbyist/pros who do not need income from their photography because they make really good money in their full-time jobs. Some of these are even professional communicators who are on staff of a corporation or even a newspaper for example.

There are many people who just love to travel and see the world. They are looking for another stamp of a country they have never been to that they can add to their passport.

What is happening with these people is they are not thinking long-term for the organization they are donating of their time and resources.

Managerial Accounting

I think you need to understand this business concept in order to do the right thing when offering your work for free to an organization.

Too many people see the savings they are providing an organization by donating of their time and resources. This is how financial accounting tracks things, but those organizations that mature over time do not use this method only. They use managerial accounting method in addition for their organization.

MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING:
       Provides information to make decisions regarding the future
       Relevance of data is emphasized over reliability
       Focuses on timeliness of information
       Reporting is focused on parts of the organization such as departments or      
       divisions and not on the organization as a whole.

Here are just a few things that organizations address due to using managerial accounting procedures:
       1. Just in time inventory
       2. Total quality management
       3. Enterprise resource planning
       4. Supply chain management
       5. Benchmarking

Do you want your donations to an organization to multiply or just help temporarily? Most would want to know they were helping long-term.

Think about each of these when you donate next time to an organization:

1. Is my donation helping the organization meet it's mission statement?
2. When I stop donating is what I am doing for the organization something that they need to continue and pay for this service going forward?
3. Am I helping educate the organization on how to use my gifts the most effective way possible.
4. Will you be disappointed if your donation isn't used?

Storytelling is core to successful organizations

I know that every organization must do effective storytelling of what they are about at the core or they will not be successful. I do not mind donating my time as I choose, but highly resent organizations that expect all storytellers to donate to their organization. 

I believe organizations need to have a budget for their ongoing storytelling. They need to have materials that they can use over and over that help tell their story. They need to tell new stories of how they are continuing to make an impact or sooner or later they will start to die. 

Just like movie studios must continue to come out with a new movie to get people to spend their money to watch, so too must organizations continue to tell their stories or people will stop being apart of their organization. 

Time to Pay for Free

There should come a time in a nonprofit's growth where they will slowly mature by doing the right things. The day will come when the organization cannot just rely on Free.

I know one organization that has built up and continues today relying predominantly on free and all their staff raise their own support to work for free full-time. When I have worked with them I have been trying to give a presentation and the room I was too use was not useable. Due to improper wiring by free volunteers over the years the rooms were not just unusable but fire hazards.

I couldn't get the work sent to my email accounts one year because all the free IT support didn't wire their campus properly.

Even Habitat for Humanity knows it must rely on professional electricians and plumbers to meet code for their homes.  Maybe more organizations need to realize their really is a code standard for good communication.

Here is the bottom line for organizations that do not create a plan to budget for storytelling.

Organizations that continue to go to professional communicators asking for free and never budget for communications never mature.

Thought I would end with the sunset.

Are you filling holes in an organization or using holes to fill the organization?

Pastor Emanuel Yameogo is in front of the church he pastors in Koudougou, Burkina Faso, Africa.

Many photographers are enjoying giving of their time to travel the world for a NGO in exchange for access to subjects. You can get hooked on doing this for the wrong reasons. Getting one more country stamped on your passport can feel good to even those who are doing it for all the right reasons, but be sure this is not the motivation for you to see the world.

I just had someone post this on a forum that I contribute to and enjoy.  I posted this as a response and believe too many photographers with big hearts and giving to organizations are often doing more harm than good in the big picture for those organizations.

San Antonio Catholic Church in Tikul, Yucatan, Mexico

"NGO/NPO's have a budget for marketing. Do not let them tell you they have no budget."

Sadly this is not true in all cases. While there are many reasons they have no or inadequate budget for marketing there is one that many of us contribute.

Altruism is one of the biggest problems with these organizations. Many media professionals out of wanting to help actually have hurt many of these organizations over time.

A giving photographer isn't able to give to their charity $20,000, but chooses to give of their time of what would amount to a $20,000 gift. This is how many organizations are able to do more with less.

Let's say that for the next 20 years this photographer gives annually a week of their time doing projects from multimedia, still photography and maybe some writing to help with marketing materials for this organization.

Jacob Tarnagda [left] and Jay Shafto walk through the Jacob's courtyard. Jacob is a leader in the church in Soumagou, Burkina Faso, West Africa.

Sadly the photographer dies one year for whatever reason. Slowly this organization is loosing traction. Their marketing is not as good as it was. They cannot find a veteran photographer like the one they had before. Now they rely on college students and amateurs who give of their time.

Sometimes they just stop doing any photography. That was something someone gave to them but not something they needed in the minds of the NGO.

While the photographer was alive and giving the organization flourished, but once he/she was gone they started to wither. 

Street scene in Tikul, Yucatan, Mexico.

Please don't be that photographer.

Be altruistic and give of your time just like the photographer did all those years. However, this is how you can be different and help the organization.

Take the time to have conversations with the leadership. Sit them down and get them to understand the real costs and encourage them to start creating a marketing budget. Get them to put it into the budget that they vote on each year.

Your gifting of time can cover the costs while you are able, but by this being on the visible budget you will be helping the organization slowly create a budget. 

I would help them over time realistically put together a budget just like each of us who are independent have to do for our budgets. Maybe get them to slowly hire a few independent media specialists to help your projects be better. 

Night street scene in  Tikul, Yucatan, Mexico.

Once more thing besides creating a physical budget for the organization, help them to know how to use entry level communications people. Help them to understand the importance of strategic creatives and how they can mentor the newbies. 

Maybe you help them by training students and having them work with you on these projects for internship credit. Be sure if you do this, that you are communicating the importance of the seasoned pro. Let them know how this is saving them money in the long run. Show how new fresh perspectives of the students can also help them grow. Just be sure they understand the importance of strategic communications rather than just photos and videos being created to have something "visual."

This is the hanger used for the ministry story point in the bush village of Sabtenga, Burkina Faso, West Africa.

You need to help the organizations understand the difference between filling holes and using holes to fill the organization.

Which photo is best? Another Example

Click on photo for a larger view.

This is a series I shot of a little Senara boy in the town of Konadouga, Burkina Faso, which is located in West Africa.

Which of the photos would you pick and why?  Here are larger versions of the composite above:

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7

Photo 8

I think anyone of the photos will work. Yes I do believe they are all good and which one to use depends on what I am wanting to say to people. Now I might crop the photo a little depending on the photo I select and how it will be used.

I could easily see this photo running over two pages of a magazine with the headline and story on the left over the photograph.

I think the furrow of his eyebrows and his hands on the post change so much from photo to photo. The only photo I really feel like makes the child look content and happy is Photo 2. You could argue Photo 3 also he is playful and enjoying himself.

All the other photos he is looking at the photographer inquisitively which can be interpreted many different ways.

For the most part all the ones with the furrow of his eyebrows and tight grip on the pole communicate some type of desperation to me. These look more like the NGO photos trying to raise money for their programs that help children. The expression communicates uneasy feeling which can help the viewer feel responsibility for the child.

I am shooting slightly from above the child a few feet away from him. What I find interesting is in the last photo he raises his chin which makes his eyes look more level to the camera perspective. This in turn puts him more on eye level with the audience.

That last photo could be used where you may have the child making his on plea for help in the copy.

Which photo is best? The first question should be what are you trying to say.

Photographer Tip

When shooting situations like this in the field you have to feel the situation. Then you must know what you are trying to communicate about this person to people who are not hear but will be the audience.

There are two of the journalists questions I think you need to really understand and know what the answers are before you push the shutter release.

What and Why are the two question of the five I would stress.

Here are the five questions a journalist should ask:

• Who is it about?
• What happened?
• When did it take place?
• Where did it take place?
• Why did it happen?

Some authors add a sixth question, “how”, to the list, though "how" can also be covered by "what", "where", or "when":

• How did it happen?

What is going on that you need to communicate to your audience? This helps you pick the situation and moments out of everything that you are seeing and focus on the message.

Why should the audience care? This is a deeper question that I like to ask rather than just why did it happen. This helps me often work to find the peak moment that will engage the audience.
This is why I might crawl on the ground to get my audience eye level with children. When they are eye level with a child this should help them feel like a child, because to see this moment like this would mean being like a child on the ground.

Remember if you don't know why you are pushing the shutter release then no one else will understand either when they see your image.