During my senior year at Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication, I served as our NPPA student chapter president, helping my fellow students
reap benefits from the organization and the wonderful people in our profession. Recently I began an update and expansion of NPPA’s Student Internship
Database that was years out of date. And in late September 2009, I became NPPA's Student Chapter Chair.
I’m more than willing, and ready, to help serve with the national leadership as a member of NPPA’s Board of Directors.
I joined the NPPA when I was just a senior in high school. I knew, even then, that the craft was in my blood. Getting that magazine
every month, seeing the clip and BOP results, and being connected to professionals who I admired, gave me a glimpse of who I could
become and what I could achieve. Now, as a professional, I still value those benefits I’ve received all these years. My ambition to be
elected to the Board is deeply rooted in my desire to give back to the organization that shaped me as a young person in this field.
I want other students and young professionals to be afforded the wonderful learning experiences I’ve had.
We’re going through some rough times, both in our industry and the NPPA. I know what it’s like to lose a job you love and be forced
back into the job market. I know what it’s like to have to learn new technologies and practices with little formal training. At the same time,
NPPA’s membership is down. And sadly, we’re losing a lot of veterans and young people from our ranks.
Our most experienced members and our youngest members have so much to offer and gain from each other and from the NPPA. I firmly believe that we
don’t spend our hard-earned money every year just for a magazine, job bank, contests, and equipment discounts. We invest that money to be part of
a community that refuses to accept a demise of our craft, and is intent on preparing the next generation of ethical and excellent journalists. To fulfill that
mission, reaching out to students and young professionals will be a vital task. We’ll need to encourage their involvement and listen and act on their concerns.
It’s a task that my background and interests prepare me for.
In the 1946 inaugural issue of NPPA’s National Press Photographer, it declared: “News Photographers All Over U.S. Rush to Join.” Let’s shoot for a second
rush. And let’s make it so that visual journalists can exist and thrive for decades to come with the NPPA in their lives, concerned with their well being, and
fostering their growth.
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Michael P. King is a visual journalist at the Green Bay Press-Gazette (Region 5) specializing in multimedia production. Before working in Green Bay, King was
a staff photojournalist at The Post~Crescent in nearby Appleton, Wis. He recently served as vice president of the Wisconsin News Photographers Association,
and is a past president of Ohio University’s NPPA student chapter, NPPAOU. King joined the NPPA as a senior in high school and through his formative years
was fortunate to take advantage of many great NPPA programs like the Flying Short Courses. He recently attended the 2009 Kalish Workshop at
Ball State University.
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