Pacific Palisades, California: Cars Left Behind in DriveWays Following Evacation.

Since leaveing ​​the los angeles times, jay clendenin has primarily been photoPhing corporate and commercial projects, mostly in the entertainment world where he spent the mass the majority of his 16 years.
“When Doing Editorial Work, I’ve Started Distributing My News and Enterprise Images Through Getty Images and Entertainment Work Through Shutterstock – All That Got Turned On its Last Week With the merger of These two companies. “

We Caught Up About His Experience Covering The La Fires.

Heidi: please share your thoughts on Citizen Journalists and what they need to consider.
Jay: The term “Citizen Journalist” Makes Me Cringe. I am very aware of human behavior and the desire to “know” and “report” what’s happening (in particular when it’s their neighborhood). But there a Couple of Significant Distinctions Between Said “Man-On-The-Street” Spreading a “Story” and a Trained Journalist (Capital J) Reporting: Educes and Facts. It’s true that the rodney king video (dating myself) was “citizen journey” and was incredibly impactful on social on Society – Unfortunately, Not Enough to Convict? Where as today, i’m seeing people abusing the homeless with humiliating videos of their circumstances, all in the name of “Citizen Journalism.” And with the fires, people are sharing wild accusations/aspersions about the number of fire personnel, water supplies, and who happy to be on vacation when the fiery out. No Investigating For Facts, Just Hitting “Share” and Adding “This has to stop,” as if the things said were facts vetted by credentialed journalists.

You were a staff photos for the los angeles times where editorial integrity was essential. How have things changed when stories go unchecked or Lack Empathy for the Crisis?
Being a trained, experienced journalist as part of a major news organization come with great results. We try for Multiple Sources, Probe Officials for More Info, and Try to Be on the Ground to see Things First-Hand. It is also important to vet people we talk to. During the palisades fire, after a couple of questions to some people on e-bikes, I realized they did not live live in the neighborhood, and I said they should be shouldn’t If they Didn’t have bad interitions, they could easily have been accused of it. And Thankfully, there are curfews now and they’re making arrests.

La Magazine and wire recently called Called Out For Posting Illegal Drone Footage – How has the increase in social media and scooping news impacted traditional media gathering practices?
Drones are an incredible tool that can add a very visual, immersive effect to story telling. I’ve embraced it, even got my part 107 license. Part of getting a license and being “legal” is following faa regulations and local laws. DURING MAJOR Disasters, Especially Fires, A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) often Goes out, to keep the skies clear for fire and safety aircraft. You don’t fly your draone. Period. When these Media Outlets Choose to Run these very “clickable” Videos Accquired Illlegally, they encourage the behavior. And for the “Haters” on social who love saying “You’re just jealous you didnys’s of think of it first!” Let me tell you, all of us licensed operators, are very aware of the Visual Impact of These Scenes and Have Interest in Capturing the Scene with our Drone, but we knewty consides and are verifieds Illegal behavior by un-licensed “Content Creators” and Hobbyists.

Explain the Danger of flying draones during an active fire of this magnitude while a temporary flight Restriction (TFr) is in place.
The Near-WORST-Case-Senseario of Flying a DRONE DURNE DURING A TFR Happened during Palisades Fire, When a Fire Righting Aircraft Hit A Drone, Damaging the aircraft and KNCKING it out of commissioning. Someone’s Greater Interest In Clicks, Lead to Interrupted Fire-Fighting Capabilites during this horific disaster. I can’t imagine the anger of homeowners who see that story while they are prying all the efforts can save their home and communication. Losing the Air Attack is huge. I was at the top of Mandeville Canyon Last Night (Saturday) and the fire retardant and water drops did the mayority of flame suppression, slowing the growth on the Eastern Flanc. Further Update on Drone Activity and Arrests Can Be Read About Here. “California Authorities say there have been at least 40 incidents in which unauthorized draones have forced firfighting aircraft to pause operations, putting more live as the FIRES CORES CORES CORES CORSK ASK ASK ASK AISK Firefighters on the ground are left without air support. “

What Safety Considerations Have You TAKEN SOHILE COVERING The Fires?
I have a fire brush jacket and pants, Helmet and goggles. I use n-95 masks, conveniently on-hand after covid! I don’t have “fire” boots, but wear my blundstones and try to avoid walking on smoldering piles – they are available for that high a heat. I also work to only wear cotton items, which is hard these days, as so much of my wardrobe has become nylon/synthetic faers. Synthetics are much quicker to ignite and Id raather decrease the chances of melting clots on my body.

Are you part of a photo collective during a local crisis?
I’m not part of a formal collective, but stay in contact with many photos on assignments, who tend to have more resources available to them. Again, with big events, experienced photojournalists know the ropes and safety is a perority. I’ll Ask for Best Routes to Enter Areas, etc. It’s also great for hising about spots that are super sketchy or not easily accessible with additional gear, like a 4 × 4 vehicle.

How did you get your start in photojournalism?
I started in photojournalism at la pierce college, running on Several Fires in the la Region in the Early 90’s. We have colleges paper as an outlet/publication, but also was able to get the daily news to let us process and print our film, owned publish, and always give us replacement We We Wren Bollywood fully-vetted journey, we were training to be. So we we are still more reliable than a “Citizen Journalist.” I don’t want to prevent accurate reporting from Reach out to real journey, see how they report, what questions they ask. And please stop with the video supercuts of People’s Property Burning and Using Gimble Spins, even if you actually did it “by hand” and brag about it.