Gary Fong Discusses Impact of Photojournalism at Seventh Annual MPJI Lecture

This article was written by The Empire State Tribune staff writer Myrian Garcia and published on The Empire State Tribune website on April 6th, 2021. You can read more articles from The Empire State Tribune here.

Photojournalist Gary Fong, whose photographs have won him many awards such as San Francisco Bay Area Photographer of the Year and earned him the honor of having his work published in TIME Magazine, The New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, spoke at the Seventh Annual MPJI lecture on Wednesday, March 24.

Whether it is a shot capturing celebrity couples or biker gangs causing trouble, a photo entails a story that moves people, promotes change and advocates for action according to Fong.

“When we are out with cameras, we are a witness to history,” Fong said. “It is an awesome responsibility to watch history unfold.”  

During Fong’s career as a photojournalist in the ‘70s and ‘80s, photographers worked with the limitations of shooting film. 

“Be precise on what you shoot,” was the advice Fong gave to students aspiring to become photojournalists. 

With the development of digital cameras and editing software, it is much easier to create the perfect shot. However, new technology also makes it much easier to manipulate a photo from what it actually portrays. Fong warned the audience that precision and integrity will determine how a shot can move the hearts of viewers. 

Fong shared different pictures that depicted moments during wartime and damage caused by natural disasters. No matter how descriptive words in an article may be, a photograph of such devastation can allow the viewer to experience the event themselves. In history we’ve seen that a single photo can urge governments to fund programs and send help to those in need. According to Fong, the same photo that calls for government action can also unite the world. 

“Pictures have a tremendous amount of effect,” Fong said, “regardless of a person’s background.”

A message may get lost in translation, but photographs capture moments in a way that transcends language, nationality and culture.

Fong explained how he switched from a major in engineering to that of journalism per God's “calling.” After years of serving as a photojournalist, the stories he told and pictures he shared showed the audience that he fulfilled his calling by integrating his faith into his work. While Fong would have preferred to speak in person, he was still able to present his favorite captured moments on Zoom and tell stories that highlighted his career as a photojournalist.

The McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute and Acton Institute Host Skeptech

This article was written by The Empire State Tribune staff writer Esther Wickham and published on The Empire State Tribune website on March 3rd, 2021. You can read more articles from The Empire State Tribune here.

The McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute hosted SkepTech, a virtual webinar, last Thursday with bestselling author and political commentator David French.

The discussion centered around the discourse between the government, technology and free speech. Keynote speaker French, who currently serves as senior editor for The Dispatch and as a columnist for Time Magazine, opened the first half of the event with a lecture tackling free speech within technology and Big Tech companies.

“We’re weighting into a topic that has been more dominated by ignorance and outright dishonesty surrounding Section 230 and free-speech online,” French said.

Screenshot Courtesy of Esther Wickham

Discussing Section 230, French outlined why there is no trust between the government and individuals. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 states, “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” This act aims to provide immunity from legal responsibilities to Big Tech companies that decide to censor violent content on their social media platforms.

“Online speech was specifically created for moderation but is not being treated much like offline speech. The real object is not their bigness. It’s their ideology,” French said. “You begin to realize that your lines of communication to your public are in the hands of people who do not like your speech, and so you feel an enormous sense of vulnerability.”  

French concluded his lecture by restating the main reason why we are having these discussions. 

“We need to be careful not to let micro issues distract us from macro truth,” French said. 

In the second half of the event, French moderated a panel of guest speakers, including Dr. Mary Anne Franks, professor at the University of Miami School of Law, Al Sikes, current President of Hearst New Media, and Scott Lincicome, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Cato Institute. The panelists then discussed how Section 230 is giving more power to big companies. 

“With Section 230, these big dominating companies get this bubble wrap protection around them while private citizens don’t get special protection,” Franks said. 

The panelist concluded that these big companies could do more harm than good with this legal protection.