Unforgettable Esper

Esper
We learned Friday that legendary Associated Press Vietnam correspondent George Esper had died.

During my year with the AP in Iraq, I heard more than a few times from staffers about the importance of the the company's "first-in/last-out" legacy for covering global conflict zones, and the example that came up most frequently was Vietnam.

They were talking about Esper, who refused to leave Saigon before covering the fall -- even after 10 years of great reporting.

Yesterday, I saw stories emerging from journalists now working across social media about the importance of Esper's mentoring and generosity in the early stages of their careers. I was another of his many beneficiaries.

While I was working as a young summer replacement staffer for AP photos in Boston in 1986, Esper humbly asked me to make some copy slides for his new book on the history of the Vietnam War.

Soon after, he came back with an autographed copy of his his Eyewitness History of the Vietnam War, which I have since treasured and opened again last night. I had forgotten that his message had attributed much more credit than I deserved, thanking me for a "great Vietnam slide show," as if I had done much more than simply copy the great works of others.

But that was how he rolled. Esper had earned a world of respect and could never wait to pay it all forward to the next generation.

I often argue that social media journalism has the potential to supplant traditional journalism strategies, but I can't imagine replacing George Esper by any means.

Read more about George Esper at npr.org.

About

I am an independent multimedia journalist, university educator and instructional new media consultant based in Philadelphia.

This year, I will continue advising the students who report and produce War News Radio at Swarthmore College - and teach a new course on Peace Journalism.

I spent last year teaching graduate multimedia reporting courses at the Carter Journalism Institute at NYU, and leading journalism innovation seminars at Temple University, as well as producing War News Radio.

I spent 2009-2010 as an assistant professor on the convergence journalism faculty at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Until 2008, I was the senior photographer, a photo-columnist and the first solo video journalist with the Philadelphia Daily News, where I had worked since 1991.

On leave from the Daily News in 2004-2005, I was a photographer and photo editor for the Associated Press in Iraq, personally covered over 200 combat missions, and at times managed the AP’s Iraq photo report and staff development in Baghdad.

I was honored with the Bayeux Prize for War Correspondents, and was included in the Associated Press photo team awarded the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography and numerous additional awards.

In 2006-2007, I was a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan, and an Ochberg Fellow with the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma in later 2007.

I have led photojournalism seminars at Tufts University, my alma mater, and undergraduate courses at Temple University, including a course I designed on journalism and trauma. In 2009, I traveled across New Zealand to present a series of lectures on trauma journalism.

More recently, I was named one of the Five Biggest Photographers on the Internet by Photo District News, and Philadelphia Magazine’s 2009 Best of Philly “Nuevo Journalist,” both for my experiments in social media journalism.

I am sometimes available for editorial assignments, commissioned projects, select commercial contracts, and instructional new media consulting.

Thank you for visiting, Jim

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