A Recent article on PDN Online brought to our attention a topic worth discussing. It seems that security for the NFL is requiring photographers to wear safety vests. This seems like a reasonable rule, until you find out that the vest you have to wear bears advertising logos for canon, and Reebok. Now I myself am a Canon fan, but nobody better tell me to wear a billboard for them unless they plan on paying me for that advertising.
“Whether working on behalf of a news/sports organization or as a freelancer, this new requirement is a violation of the most basic ethical standards in journalism,” said a letter to the NFL signed by NPPA president Tony Overman, a photographer at The Olympian in Washington state. “In the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation I urge you to reconsider this ill-conceived policy.”
Photographers at a recent Major League Soccer match were recently forced to wear similar advertising vests. It seems that it is becoming an annoying, and disturbing trend. It’s not so much that having a logo on your vest is bad, but as a professional, being forced to wear advertising for a company is rather insulting. One has to wounder if the reason behind the vests has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with money.
Some photographer are putting tape over the ads, and whether you like the brand or not this sounds like the perfect way to protest this nonsense. If an industry allows itself to be pushed around it will only get worse. Contrariwise however when people take a little bit of a stand, it can go a long ways. To learn more read the entire article at PDN. As well as an article on the subject from NPPA.