The People

VISUAL EDGE

Douglas R. Clifford is currently a working photojournalist with the St. Petersburg Times. He joined the Times in 1998 and had previously worked as a photojournalist with the smaller daily newspaper Hernando Today in Hernando County, Florida, the Gainesville Sun, in Gainesville, Florida, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in St. Louis, Missouri. He studied and earned a degree in journalism at the University of Florida, also in Gainesville, Florida.

Kate Collins – “After graduating with a BFA from Marywood University in 1997, I was taken in by the photo staff of a mid-size Pennsylvania daily, and taught what a news photo was. After three years as a stringer, I somehow ended up at a small daily newspaper covering four rural counties in central Pennsylvania. There, I shot everything from nighttime raccoon hunts, to Amish dairy farms, to baptisms in the mighty Susquehanna River. I also spent a lot of time 600 feet underground, documenting one of the last family operated anthracite mines in Pennsylvania. I am excited by the possibilities multimedia holds for still photographers.”

Aly Colón is Poynter’s Reporting, Writing & Editing Group Leader and the new Best Newspaper Writing Editor. He has been the Ethics Group Leader and Diversity Program Director. He teaches ethical decision-making, how to connect with under-covered communities and how to find, report, write and edit the untold stories. He has written book chapters and articles about ethics and diversity issues and writes regularly for Poynter Online, including the “Talk about Ethics” column. He also edits the “Journalism with a Difference” column. He explores diverse approaches to covering news. He presents regularly at the National Writers Workshop. He edited the Poynter Report. In his consulting work, he teaches about ethics, diversity, writing and leadership. Prior to Poynter, he worked at The Seattle Times as diversity reporter and coach. As a reporter, he focused on the “intersections” where people of different races, cultures, gender, and abilities meet. As coach, he helped reporters and editors address diversity issues. He also was a Seattle Times assistant metro editor for urban affairs, health care, ethics & values, religion and social issues. He worked at The Herald in Everett, Wash., as an executive editor over both business and features and at The Oakland Press in Pontiac, Mich. Some of Aly’s fellowships include: a Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in business at Columbia University, a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship in ethics, Knight Center for Specialized Journalism fellowships in health care and race, and a Robert Bosch Study Fellowship on European unity and German reunification. He got his B.A. in journalism from Loyola University in New Orleans and his M.A. in journalism from Stanford University. His wife Sheila is a marketing research consultant and a journalism educator. His 9-year-old daughter Christina plays the violin. His 3-year-old Standard Poodle, Biscuit, runs outside, sniffs the newspaper, then waits for Aly to pick it up.

Yvette De La Garza is a content producer for the San Diego Union-Tribune Website, Signonsandiego.com.

Robert David Duncan, III, is a staff photographer with The News & Advance in Lynchburg, VA. In addition to photography responsibilities, Duncan produces audio and video stories for new multi-media content online. David graduated with his B.F.A. degree in photography from Savannah College of Art & Design in 1995. Personal projects include “Innocence Lost Lynchburg 9/11,” a five month multi-media project featuring audio interviews with photographs, that was accepted into the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center in 2003 and renamed “David Duncan September 11th Collection.” His 9/11 project was also featured in the 2003 LIFE book, “The American Spirit, Meeting the Challenge of September 11.”

Christian Fuchs was a journalist in the U.S. Navy from 1990 through 1996. While in the Navy, Mr. Fuchs worked as a broadcast journalist on Crete and Diego Garcia. During these assignments, Mr. Fuchs was primarily responsible for producing television newscasts. Later he worked at the newspaper Pacific Stars & Stripes in Tokyo; first as a copy-editor and then as a staff photojournalist. While at PS&S, Mr. Fuchs photographed and wrote stories. Mr. Fuchs received a Master’s degree in photojournalism from Syracuse University in 2002. He is now a photo editor at The Washington Times in Washington, D.C.

Gina Gayle grew up surrounded by photography and the love of the newspaper business, which she acquired from her father, the late James Gayle. With a fully operational black & white darkroom in the basement of her home, she was a darkroom assistant before she could read. She studied marketing in college and upon graduation began working for one of the country’s largest pharmaceutical companies until deciding to return to school. Wanting to expand on her business acumen but also needing a more creative environment, Ms. Gayle enrolled in the master’s program at Columbia College Chicago, where she created a program in Art, Entertainment and Media Management with a visual arts concentration. The individualized course of study allowed Ms. Gayle to take art and photography classes to supplement her arts business courses. While learning how to manage a gallery or museum or even an artist, she learned the art form as well. For the first time, Ms. Gayle took introductory photography classes wherein she had to unlearn her method of photography and re-learn the tried and true practice of it. One internship at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, housed at Columbia College taught her how collections are managed, maintained and preserved. Another internship with a renowned artist and photographer’s representative allowed her to understand the business side of being an artist and handling that person’s work. For her graduation requirement, Ms. Gayle wrote a strategic plan for a small non-profit arts organization on Chicago’s South Side. Moving to New York, Ms. Gayle worked with non-profit organizations in a variety of capacities as a project manager and consultant, overseeing staff, artists, budgets and working on highly visible special events. During this time she also worked as a photography assistant, studio assistant and freelanced for community and weekly publications in the New York Tri-State area. In 1999 Ms. Gayle accepted the Hearst Journalism Fellowship and spent the next two years traveling the country, spending six months each at the following Hearst newspapers; the Houston Chronicle, the Midland Michigan Daily News, the Albany (NY) Times Union and the San Francisco Chronicle. In July 2001, two months before the completion of her Hearst Fellowship, she was offered a staff photography position with the San Francisco Chronicle where she worked for two years. Currently Ms. Gayle is living in New York pursuing a free-lance photography career and other opportunities.

Kenny Irby is the Visual Journalism Group Leader at The Poynter Institute. He is an integral figure in visual journalism education. He is known for his insightful knowledge of photographic storytelling, innovative management ideas, and steadfast ethical thinking. He is the founder of Poynter's photojournalism program. Kenny teaches in seminars and consults in areas of photojournalism, leadership, ethics, and diversity. He traveled to Russia, South Africa, Singapore, Jamaica, and Denmark preaching excellence in photojournalism. He chaired the Unity '99 Visual Task Force; and was Poynter's representative to the Best of Photojournalism Committee. Among his many accomplishments, Kenny contributed as a photo editor to three Pulitzer Prize-winning projects while at Newsday. He was a juror for the Society for News Design, Annual Pictures of the Year Competition, White House News Photographers' Competition, and ASNE Community Service Photojournalism Award. Kenny is a recipient of numerous NPPA awards including the 1999 Joseph Costa Award for outstanding initiative, leadership, and service in photojournalism, and the 2002 Presidents Award. Before coming to Poynter, Kenny was a photographer and deputy director of photography at Newsday, Inc., and a photographer and assistant photo editor at the The Oakland Press. He holds a BS in photojournalism from Boston University, and was a Multicultural Management Fellow at the University of Missouri.

Andre Jones - When photojournalist Andre Jones looked through the lens of his video camera, things suddenly became clearer. Change was beckoning him to take an ultimate faith walk. After 20 years of covering crime scenes to national moments in history, including the infamous O.J. Simpson trial, Princess Diana’s untimely funeral, the Columbine tragedy and most notably, New York City’s 9-11 terrorist attack, the award-winning photojournalist decided to venture out on his own. Armed with years of remarkable experience, Jones is refocusing his angle on another playing field. Some might even say that with the recent launching of Lens for Christ (LFC), the popular acronym of his former employer, CNN, can now be referred to as the “Christian” News Network instead of Cable News Network for the purposes of Jones’ mission. Most recently, he’s trained over fifty people in various churches who often begin as volunteers, only later following in his footsteps to pursue the video business themselves. Said Jones, “That’s what it's all about – building the best in people." Jones believes real change and inspiration come from those who can make a difference in the life of another. His professional commitment is industry noted-with awards too numerous to mention. He teaches in seminars and consults in areas of photojournalism, leadership and ethics. Jones has presented on the 2003 Flying Short Course, Judged the 2004 NPPA awards, A Visual Task force leader for NABJ and a visiting faculty member of The Poynter Institute. His personal commitments are equally important. He often encourages and mentors young boys in need, believing that the true sign of a leader is one who recognizes and acts on the universal and biblical truth; to whom much is given, much is required.

Larry Larsen Larry Larsen is a former technologist and currently is the Multimedia Editor at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies. He has co-authored Flash 4 Magic, and contributed to The Flash 4 Bible, The Flash 5 Bible, New Masters of Flash, and Effective Web Animation. Larry is a Macromedia Certified Flash Developer, a former Macromedia Flash Evangelist, and created content for the Macromedia Flash 4 CD-ROM as well as all the Flash content for EyeWire's Flash Foundry. He has taught Flash design courses offered through ehandson.com and The Urban Solutions Center, and is a regular guest faculty member at The Poynter Institute in the subject of emerging technologies. Larry is currently working on a system to bring rich media story telling to novice users, developed several software applications to this end, and has a technology patent pending.

Regina McCombs is a multimedia reporter (photographer/producer) for startribune.com, the online division of the Star Tribune, Minneapolis-St. Paul. She arrived there after 13 years as a television photographer and producer at KARE-TV, the NPPA-winning powerhouse in the Twin Cities. Winner of numerous Best of Photojournalism and Pictures of the Year International awards for multimedia storytelling, she is a regular speaker around the country, talking about finding new ways to tell stories on the Web. For startribune.com, she does a little bit of lots of things - filing news stories from the field, shooting video, stills, recording audio, creating slide shows, producing major projects and training staff in creating multimedia for the Web. She's also taught classes in online journalism and TV news at the University of Minnesota, where she (finally) finished her master's degree.

Ryan Kent Morris – “After serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer (Kazakhstan 00-02), I began working as a freelance photographer in Washington, DC. In February 2003, I interned and worked as a photographer’s assistant with a newly created picture agency on Capitol Hill primarily covering politics and news around Washington. In the fall of 2003, I became a staff photographer with the Times Community Newspapers in Virginia and continued to accept assignment work from magazines, newspapers, NGOs and associations. My family and I have just relocated to Tampa, where I will continue freelancing and look forward to collaborating with my wife on multimedia projects (locally and internationally) as she pursues her PhD in medical anthropology.

Sara Quinn teaches in the areas of design, typography, illustration, photo editing, visual storytelling, media convergence and leadership. She encourages visual journalists to find their voice in the newsroom and to think beyond traditional job descriptions for ways to contribute their ideas, passions and abilities. Sara helps participants to explore varied story forms in print, broadcast and the web. She stresses Craftsmanship in the marriage of words and images, and puts emphasis on thinking about story presentation from the varied perspectives of readers and viewers. Sara encourages conceptual-thinking in design, illustration, photography and presentation. Prior to Poynter, Sara was AME for visuals at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, a multi-edition newspaper which operates a 24-hour cable television station; presentation director at the Wichita Eagle; design director, magazine editor, illustrator and book designer at other posts. She has received awards from the Society for News Design and various other organizations. Sara has been Juror for the SND annual competition; board member of SND and the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Sara has a B.A., in journalism and graphic design, from Wichita State University; an M.A., in illustration, Phi Kappa Phi, from Syracuse University.

Beth Reynolds - “I have a strong desire not only to take pictures, but to share the experiences of my subjects, and hopefully, to give something back to them through the act of recording their lives. I began shooting for my school newspaper in the 9th grade. Making photo-documentaries has been my passion for 15 years. In 1995 I received my MFA in photography from The Hartford Art School. It is my belief that I can make a difference in the lives of people who need it most with my camera. I have exhibited documentary projects in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida, and California. In the last fourteen years I have dealt with the issues of inclusion, health care, welfare, the environment, immigration and aging. For four years I was a staff photographer for The Bristol Press Newspaper and a photography instructor at Tunxis Community College in Connecticut. Currently, I am part-time at The Arts Center teaching and coordinating the photography and digital imaging program. I am an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida and a PEL instructor for Eckerd College. I started my own publishing company, The Photo-Documentary Press, Inc., in 1998 and continue to photograph issues with social relevance and publish fine art coffee table books. My first book was Sisters of Courage: Survivors of Breast and Cervical Cancer (1999). My second title is Captain, He Bought Eggs: Stories from a Firefighter (2001).” In 2002, I joined the United States Coast Guard Reserves to be a Public Affairs Specialist and be a storyteller for the vast missions of the Coast Guard.”

Jack Rowland is the Photo Technology Director at the St. Petersburg Times. During his 20 years there he has worked as a staff photographer, chief photographer and picture editor and still works as an on-location picture editor for spot news and sporting events. He also serves as the Photo Department's liaison to the Times' web site and has helped produce a number of multimedia photo projects. Known to many as "PwrMacJack" because of his knowledge of the Macintosh platform and his ability to troubleshoot technology problems on the fly, Jack spends much of his time training and equipping photographers for survival in a digital world. Most recently that training has been utilized with the deployment of photographers and reporters in Louisiana and Mississippi for coverage of hurricane Katrina. A winner of numerous photojournalism awards, he is a 1984 graduate of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. Jack, his wife and their two children live in Tampa.

Jeff Saffan joined The Poynter Institute in 1999. He is the A/V Systems Coordinator and a computer system support specialist. (OS X rules.) He was instrumental in the design and installation of Poynter's Network Infrastructure, Communications and Presentation Systems. He came to Poynter from ABC Network TV where he was a Broadcast Engineer in SMAG, (Systems Maintenance and Assembly Group). Projects included retrofit of "Good Morning America" studios and ABC Master Control, installation of "Turning Point" Digital Edit rooms, retrofit of ABC Field Trucks for 1991 Pan Am Games in Cuba and Field operations for 1991 and 1992 "New York City Marathon Race."

Jim Sanchez – “I have been a photographer/photo editor for the past 22 years. I was 17 when I started as a stringer in 1983 in my hometown, Battle Creek, Mich. at the Battle Creek Enquirer. In 1991 I was hired as a staff photographer at the Enquirer and was there for 6 years. I wanted to try something different and was looking at other newspapers for a staff photographer position. What I found was the Ithaca Journal in upstate New York in the Fingerlakes region and became the photo editor of a staff of three. After a couple years I was promoted to the position as the photo editor of the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton, N.Y. for the next 5 years. Last July, I accepted the position as photo editor at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times as part of the Parity Project through National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Scripps newspapers.”

William (Bill) Serne is a Staff Photographer at the St. Petersburg Times. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Kent Stat University, where he spent two years as photo editor of the Daily Kent Stater and two years as Sports Editor. He also worked as a staff photographer at the Tampa Tribune. Awards: Top ten Region Six clip contest numerous times, Two Headliner awards, NFL Pro Football Contest awards, FSNE First place Picture Story and Sports action, Atlanta Seminar Photo awards. Southern Short Course awards, member of Times staff and POY Staff of the Year award. Present photo work includes: underwater visuals for Sports, photo coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, outdoor photos for Sports and Terry Tomalin columns, several photo documentary (non sports) stories each year.

Jennette Smith is program assistant for Visual Journalism at Poynter. She began working at Poynter in August 1990 as a faculty secretary in the Management and Leadership programs. Jennette is a native of Florida who grew up in New Jersey and New York. She moved to St. Petersburg in 1979 and has held a variety of positions with the City of St. Petersburg, the now defunct Fotomat, and the St. Petersburg Times.

Mike Stocker has been a staff photographer at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel since 1998. He covers the community that he grew up in, and has also had the opportunity to work on photo projects in various parts of the world. Prior to working at the Sun-Sentinel, Mike was a staff photographer at the Miami Herald, and at the Hollywood Sun-Tattler. He is married to Susan Stocker, also a staff photographer at the Sun-Sentinel. They have two children, Mimi, 12, and Ben, 9.

Terry Tomalin, St. Petersburg Times Outdoors Editor was born in New York City, the eighth of nine children. After a brief stint at American University in Washington D.C., where he drank beer and played rugby, Tomalin transferred to the University of South Florida where he discovered that the school of Mass Communications had the least amount of required classes. A solid B student, Tomalin studied Viking history, Shakespeare and Canoeing, framing houses by day and writing for the USF student newspaper, The Oracle, at night. In 1983, he won a Hearst Award for Investigative Journalism, then used the money to backpack through Europe, as part of an in-depth story on “Pubs of the Olde World.’’ Returning to the U.S. with $20 in his pocket, Tomalin took a job with the Leesburg Daily Commercial where he covered police, county government and the local livestock market. After 18 months, he joined the staff of the Lakeland Ledger and spent the next two years writing about trailer park murders and chasing the Ku Klux Klan. The stories led to the resignation of Polk County Sheriff Dan Daniels and earned Tomalin the Scripps Howard award for Public Service Journalism. Tomalin came to the St. Petersburg Times in October of 1986, covered night cops in Clearwater and embarked on another investigation of a local sheriff. Sheriff Gerry Coleman lost the subsequent election and Tomalin used the money he won in Lakeland to travel through New Zealand and Australia, where he continued his studies of international beers. Returning to the U.S. in 1989, Tomalin briefly covered the Pinellas County Commission, but after his 100th zoning story, he threatened to quit and join the French Foreign Legion. The Times responded by finding a place for him in Sports. Over the past 15 years, Tomalin has written about everything from paddling an outrigger canoe to Bimini to swimming around Key West. Tomalin has received numerous awards over the years, but his greatest thrills were the births of his son and daughter. Tomalin lives in St. Petersburg with his children, wife Kanika, and naughty Labrador retrievers, Lucy and Sara. Tomalin is currently seeking a Masters in Florida Studies, where his area of interest is the Pre-Columbian maritime epic.

Al Tompkins joined Poynter in 1998 after 25 years as a journalist, including serving as a reporter, investigative reporter, Director of Special Projects and Investigations and then was appointed News Director, WSMV Nashville. Under his direction, WSMV was Nashville's leading news station. Al is the Group Leader for Broadcast and Online at the Poynter Institute Daily. Al writes Poynter's Al's Morning Meeting column http://www.alsmorningmeeting.com which is a daily story idea service currently read by more than 8,000 people daily. In 2002, Al authored and published his new book about writing and reporting for TV News, "Aim for the Heart" a guide for reporters, producers and photojournalists. To read an excerpt go to http://www.aimfortheheart.com 1999-2002. Al and Bob Steele Co-authored the Radio and Television News Director Foundation's Newsroom Ethics workbook and tape series which was presented in workshops in 21 US Cities coast to coast. Al has been awarded some of Broadcasting's highest awards including: The National Emmy, 7 National Headliner Awards, The Peabody (team award) , The Iris, 3 Gabriel Awards, The Japan Prize and The Clarion Award for investigative, documentary and public service reporting

Jorge Velasquez – “My career began in the 70’s when I started taking pictures for my high school paper. I continued in college, culminating with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from San Diego State in Television and Radio with a Minor in Photojournalism. My first broadcast challenge came soon after I got out of college. I started a television advertising business in the small gold mining town of Grass Valley, Calif. I engineered, produced, shot, edited and sold TV spots. The spots ran on local cable channels. The challenge was to convince mom and pop businesses to advertise on television. After almost 9 successful years, it was time for a change. My next adventure took my family and me to San Luis Obispo, Calif., where I began working at KSBY-TV. I was fortunate to be surrounded by a group of talented reporters and photographers. KSBY was a great shop to learn the trade. After two and a half years, I took a deep breath and made a monumental jump to the number one TV station in California’s capitol, KCRA. Almost 10 years later I managed to exhale and continue to be a staff photographer. I’ve been fortunate to have won some local awards. My pride and joy story came two years ago when I was asked to shoot, help field produce and edit a six month long television special titled Susan’s Story. The program went on to win three producing/writing Emmys. And this year, I was twice nominated by the academy for two stories I field produced, shot and edited. I’m a firm believer in “seeking greatness, that is, seek the masters of the trade and learn from their examples.”

Joseph Martin (Joe) Weiss has worked as a photojournalist, multimedia reporter, designer, programmer, producer and editor in print and online media since 1996. He's currently an interactive producer at The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. Previously he was the Director of Photography and Multimedia at The Herald-Sun in Durham, N.C. and twice worked for MSNBC.com as a multimedia producer in Redmond, Wash. His multimedia reports have garnered national and international recognition including the Online Journalism Award for Creative Use of the Medium from the Online News Association and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and two Digital Edge awards from the NAA. He has judged several prestigious awards including the Society for News Design's Interactive Design Awards, Pictures of the Year International and the Online News Association's Online Journalism Awards. Weiss frequently speaks at seminars and universities concerning the integration of photojournalism, audio reportage and multimedia technology. He started his life in journalism as a photographer at The Herald-Sun after attending the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Randolph Community College.