I photographed a press event in Toronto yesterday that was poorly organized, with bad lighting, terrible staging, and a bad media team. It was run by the Prime Minister’s Office.
The media had to undergo security searches by both police and sniffer dogs. The audience simply walked in.
There were strict rules for journalists: where to stand, where not to go, and what not to shoot. Reporters were barred from asking questions or conducting interviews. The audience had free rein to move about and stand anywhere.
The event’s setup was chaotic. Three political VIPs, the Canadian Prime Minister and two European Union presidents, were seated on a low stage at one end of a cramped, narrow room. The audience had to stand because there were no chairs. Photographers were confined to a low riser behind the audience.
This arrangement meant the three seated leaders were barely visible to the photographers or TV cameras, and they were spaced too far apart to capture a group shot.
The 300-person audience was composed entirely of adults which included federal politicians, senators, European dignitaries, and senior business figures. Yet when the VIPs stood to speak, dozens of audience members raised their cell phones to snap photos and video, blocking the view for the photographers and TV cameras.
An odd gift was presented to the two European leaders: a large replica of a that sank 169 years ago. A gift commemorating a failed expedition in which everyone died is perfect for launching a new trade venture, right?
Plan for Opportunity
To add insult to injury, the gift was presented not at the front and center of the stage, where it could be seen and photographed, but at the back corner of the room in near darkness. You can guess how well that worked out.
The four people who sang the national anthems were barely visible, as they were positioned offstage.
The event had minor news value and that was made worse since reporters weren’t allowed to ask any questions nor do any interviews. There was no photo value because photographers could barely see what was going on. The resulting photos were just headshots of three people.
How much photo coverage of this event was in the following day’s newspapers? None.
Here’s the takeaway: when you plan a photo opportunity, poor photos lead to no coverage. Without any opportunity, there won’t be any photos.
Good photos don’t happen by accident. If you want media coverage, you need to plan for both visual and news value. Both are important. Create the opportunity or allow photographers to do it themselves.
Fun Fact #1: The Prime Minister travelled from Toronto’s airport to this downtown hotel during Friday afternoon rush hour in just 20 minutes, according to a photographer in the motorcade. Another photographer, driving on his own, took two hours to travel the same route.
Fun Fact #2: It turns out that this unnecessary Toronto event was a last-minute show intended to boost the Prime Minister’s profile. (Note that even the linked news article doesn’t use a picture from the Toronto event.)
