I just signed on to become a member of the VisualEditors.com online forum. It's an oasis of information. If you are involved in anything visual for a news publication, here is where you can iron out your thoughts, vent or otherwise discuss among peers, role models and mentors the ideas behind presenting your work or the work of others in the most elegant and useful manner.

“VizEds publishes industry news, coordinates education, reporting and training resources and enables interaction with journalists from around the world.”

This is the brainchild of Robert Motgomery, the news design editor at the Chicago Sun-Times and adjunct professor at the Medill Graduate School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

Via John Laxmi

Washington Post honors its own photojournalists. The gallery of their work is posted here.

Via Sree Sreenivasan

Voice Of America reported yesterday that Arko Datta won the 2004 World Press Photo Award.

“An Indian photographer has won the prestigious World Press Photo Award for his picture of an Indian woman mourning the death of a relative killed in the Asian tsunami.

The picture, taken by Reuters photographer Arko Datta, shows a woman lying on sandy ground with her hands turned toward the sky. The hand of a dead relative is visible nearby.

The photo, taken in Cuddalore in India's Tamil Nadu state two days after the December 26 tsunami, was one of nearly 70,000 pictures submitted by professional photographers from 123 countries.

One of the judges, Kathy Ryan from The New York Times called the image graphic, historic and starkly emotional.

Mr. Datta will receive the distinguished award, along with nearly $13,000, in a special ceremony in Amsterdam in April.”

Tiffinbox applauds Arko's dedication to photojournalism and congratulate him on this award. I am trying to contact him to see if his work can be exhibited here and at the SAJA Photoforum.

Via APAD

This profession seeks the best. The competition for the best positions is fierce. But it isn't impossible. If you have a sense of mission, passion and some decent skill there is almost no way to “stop” you.

Read the rest of David Leeson‘s poignant conversation.

Crisis Pictures makes “stories about other people” into “stories about other people just like me.”

Is Air America behind Crisis Pictures?