The Defense Information School or How to Become a Military Photo-Journalist in 10 Easy Lessons

While the internet and civilian news sources are proliferated with images of combat journalists risking their lives for the best images that hopefully produce great ratings, the role of the military photojournalist or “PJ” is a little different. Military journalists are an asset - property if you will - and they don’t do anyone any good if they are shot. This is not to say risks are not involved when PJ’s are sent to Iraq or any other location around the world. But the job PJ’s are tasked with is to report the “soldier’s story”. Realism, not sensationalism is the keyword here. 

Military photojournalists - whether shooting stills for a base newspaper or video for a local television newscast - also serve a great need in today’s military by covering and providing what is termed “command information”. 

Command information can cover a wide range of topics: the importance of wearing sunscreen during the summer, or the need to keep valuables out of your car, or any number of other common-sense topics that the military public apparently needs to be reminded of day after day. 

During my many years serving my country I always looked at the PJ’s job as a challenge. Although the most enjoyable part of the job was traveling to some foreign port-of-call and videotaping NATO field-training or whatever, it was just as much fun to produce a television commercial on “the importance of keeping your barracks room locked”. 

Making the ordinary “extraordinary” is how I thought of it. 

Military photojournalists - whether shooting stills for a base newspaper or video for a local television newscast - also serve a great need in today's military by covering and providing what is termed "command information".

Credit: Kuzma

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