Model releases in news
March 11, 2011 8:00 AM Subscribe
I'm working on a news story for the local alt-weekly that involves a childcare center, and may be taking photos in the center. I've done child photography before, but it wasn't 'news' and we did model releases. I'm a bit nervous about parental concerns about privacy, and since I'm freelance I don't have a capital-N-news-organization to back me up, so I'm looking for advice. What's Standard Operating Practice for news photography of kids?
Best answer: All the schools my kids have attended, including private preschools, have had "media release permission forms" as part of the standard enrollment paperwork, allowing parents to opt in or out of media coverage, including television or print media stories as well as internal marketing materials.
Contact the center and see if this type of paperwork already exists for children enrolled at the center, or if they have one-time-only release forms they would send home with clients for such an occasion. Otherwise, they'll probably know exactly what you need to do in order to get your legal ducks in a row.
posted by padraigin at 8:08 AM on March 11, 2011 [4 favorites]
Contact the center and see if this type of paperwork already exists for children enrolled at the center, or if they have one-time-only release forms they would send home with clients for such an occasion. Otherwise, they'll probably know exactly what you need to do in order to get your legal ducks in a row.
posted by padraigin at 8:08 AM on March 11, 2011 [4 favorites]
Legalities aside, some parents will be pissed if photos of their kids show up in the local paper without their knowledge.
posted by bluedaisy at 8:18 AM on March 11, 2011
posted by bluedaisy at 8:18 AM on March 11, 2011
I am one of those parents who would be pissed if they took pictures of my kids without my permission, but if asked, I would gladly grant it for non commercial purposes. You just need a simple release. If I were a parent, I would ask if the story is a positive one or what the slant will be.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:46 AM on March 11, 2011
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:46 AM on March 11, 2011
I guess it depends a lot where you are. In most of the countries I've lived in, the SOP is go right ahead and take whatever pictures you like, and the parents would be thrilled to clip them out of the newspaper and have a lovely keepsake. YMMV.
posted by Meatbomb at 9:08 AM on March 11, 2011
posted by Meatbomb at 9:08 AM on March 11, 2011
Tip:
My organization did a shoot at an after-school center a few months back, where one of the issues was that (especially on short notice) some of the parents had signed off on releases but others had not. Keeping track of them who was okay to shoot and who wasn't would have been a pain, because we didn't want to cause a disruption.
Thankfully, the center came up with a plan. The kids who were good to go wore t-shirts with the center's logo on them over their clothes; the other kids just did their regular thing and interacted with the others as usual. Closeups and angles solved the rest. It felt a little staged to have everyone dressed so similarly, but the photos were great.
posted by Madamina at 9:08 AM on March 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
My organization did a shoot at an after-school center a few months back, where one of the issues was that (especially on short notice) some of the parents had signed off on releases but others had not. Keeping track of them who was okay to shoot and who wasn't would have been a pain, because we didn't want to cause a disruption.
Thankfully, the center came up with a plan. The kids who were good to go wore t-shirts with the center's logo on them over their clothes; the other kids just did their regular thing and interacted with the others as usual. Closeups and angles solved the rest. It felt a little staged to have everyone dressed so similarly, but the photos were great.
posted by Madamina at 9:08 AM on March 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
My experience is the same as padraigin's. We parents also get additional notification before an event. Call the center and ask if they have parent-signed media release forms on file.
posted by Knowyournuts at 10:45 AM on March 11, 2011
posted by Knowyournuts at 10:45 AM on March 11, 2011
I had to do a shoot like this many years back. Nthing what everyone else said above, and don't be afraid to ask the childcare center staff to point you to the kids who do have releases vs the ones who don't. When I did the shoot the staff had all of the "allowable" kids play in the area where I was shooting, while keeping the others ones out of the shots.
posted by photovox at 11:20 AM on March 11, 2011
posted by photovox at 11:20 AM on March 11, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks all -- I decided it wasn't worth the trouble, so I'll turn in photos of the people I interviewed and the exterior of the building, rather than worrying about privacy and parents. I'll note that the local capital-N-newspaper, when doing a story on the same childcare center, went with a file photo from a couple years ago.
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:17 PM on March 11, 2011
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:17 PM on March 11, 2011
General rule for all people. Private location you need permission. Public location adult or child you don't need permission. BUT unless its breaking or spot news you should check with parents as a courtesy.
posted by WickedPissah at 2:47 PM on March 12, 2011
posted by WickedPissah at 2:47 PM on March 12, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:03 AM on March 11, 2011