We have come together in the midst of COVID-19 to assert the rights of all lens-based workers and define actions that build a safer, healthier, more inclusive, and transparent industry beyond this crisis. »

The COVID-19 pandemic highlights and exacerbates inequities toward workers, especially those who are marginalized (including Black, indigenous, people of color [BIPOC]; the working class; women; and nonbinary, transgender, and queer people). This pandemic also presents an opportunity to rectify these inequities.

The labor and livelihood of lens-based workers (including photographers, cinematographers, visual editors, assistants, and producers) have been under duress long before this pandemic. Recognizing that the industry (including visual journalism and editorial media) as it exists today creates a fluid state of employment, this Bill of Rights speaks primarily to the concerns of independent workers, though it is also largely relevant to staff employees.

This document brings attention to the pervasive issues surrounding health, safety, access, bias, ethics, and finance throughout the industry and offers solutions to establish equitable standards through actionable steps.

Media institutions cannot claim to educate and progress public understanding of injustices while upholding practices that marginalize workers. The white, Western, cisgender male perspective has been historically used to colonize, disenfranchize, and dehumanize. The burden of recognizing, accounting for, and living with these inequities has been placed on those with the least access to power, resources, and recourse within the industry. By addressing these foundational issues, we can avoid further degradation of our media.

While this Bill of Rights centers the United States’ visual media industry, we encourage international efforts to address similar issues from a regional perspective.

This is not a legally binding document; this is a call to action. This is a guide. This is an ethical code. This is an opportunity to recognize the problems within our industry and act to solve them.

For further context, please see the findings of the Visual Storytellers Survey of 700+ lens-based workers across various sectors of the industry, providing evidence and insight into many of the issues we’ve outlined in this Bill of Rights.

The physical and mental wellbeing of lens-based workers requires due diligence and transparent access to safety assessment, requisite hazard pay, personal protective equipment, training, and trauma-informed aftercare when necessary. »

Lens-based work often demands personal risk and shall be met with proper assessments and practices that ensure physical, mental, and emotional health and safety; legal and digital security; and affirmation of identity (including race, religion, gender, sexuality, age, or [disability]).

Whether on assignment or at industry-adjacent events, workers and those they encounter while working shall be treated humanely. A supportive industry speaks openly about trauma, uplifts care, practices nonviolent communication, respects boundaries, and dignifies the humanity of all people.

Individual circumstances determine collective wellbeing. Workers shall be empowered to mitigate risks and make informed decisions for themselves, their families, and the communities in which they live and work.

ACTION »

• Do not penalize workers for raising safety concerns.
  
  
• Provide and/or reimburse for appropriate personal protective equipment, training, and other necessary safety materials. Reconsider hiring if not equipped to meet these standards.
  
  
• Provide a safety assessment, a communication plan, and plan of action for the worker and their family in the event of illness, injury, detention, or death due to an assignment.
  
  
• Implement hazard pay for high-risk or life-threatening assignments.
  
  
• Hire locally and endorse workers as an authority on their own communities; local workers can often better understand risks specific to their regions and neighborhoods.
  
  
• Prioritize the health and safety of workers and those they encounter while working (writers, drivers, fixers, sources, community members). Safeguard these individuals and relationships throughout the editorial process.
  
  
• Do not discriminate against pregnant workers.
  

Financial respect and security is integral to the success of all lens-based workers. Create a transparent process for timely payment, kill fees, and addressing financial and contractual issues without reprisal. »

Equitable and transparent business relationships create a culture of financial security for all. Inefficient payment systems, delayed reimbursement for expenses, predatory contract language, and unclear grievance processes not only waste the time and resources of workers, but also of hiring bodies.

Financial grievances often force out lens-based workers without access to monetary, social and legal resources. Workers can spend countless unpaid hours navigating opaque bureaucratic systems attempting to secure payment for completed labor.

Kill fees shall be implemented when workers are hired for assignments that are cancelled or never published.

Assignments with upfront expenses require significant cash flow, which is prohibitive for many workers. Timely reimbursement of expenses ensures the ability to work without incurring financial risk, debt, or long-term harm through credit damage.

Workers shall not be forced to weigh working relationships with hiring bodies against the need to collect compensation and enforce their contracts. Transparent and respectful exchanges should be the baseline, regardless of workers’ individual financial standing.

ACTION »

• Before the work begins, there shall be a clear and mutual understanding of:
  -- Contract, terms, and necessary paperwork
  -- Payment timeline (including late payment and kill fees)
  -- Invoicing instructions
  -- Direct contact for legal and finance departments in the event of payment issues or inquiries
  
  
• Ensure timely reimbursement of upfront expenses.
  
  
• Kill fees for hired work shall be implemented for work that does not get published, or is cancelled before completion. Kill fees shall include the right to seek publishing and licensing elsewhere.
  
  
• Ensure copyright stays with the worker by eliminating use of predatory Work For Hire contracts, or pay higher rates to account for loss of future revenue.
  
  
• Ensure sublicensing rights stay with the worker, or pay higher rates to account for loss of future revenue.
  
  
• Eliminate shadow banning when workers challenge contract terms.

Lens-based workers from marginalized groups are routinely subjected to sexual misconduct and abuse (microaggressions, discrimination, harassment, and assault) while working. Prioritize safety for all workers by proactively addressing concerns and grievances with policies meant to eliminate abuse and sexual misconduct. »

Abuse and sexual misconduct at the hands of individuals within the industry (including colleagues and superiors) is fundamentally rooted in a lack of respect for individual bodily autonomy and is a product of an industry that remains overwhelmingly misogynistic and racist.

Industry efforts for parity and inclusion are hampered when workers who are marginalized leave the industry as a result of abuse. Abuse has historically been weaponized through promises of professional advancement and/or threats of professional harm. There can not be a safe and accountable industry without a zero tolerance attitude towards abuse and sexual misconduct.

ACTION »

• Commit to a policy and protocol for receiving and investigating allegations of all forms of abuse and sexual misconduct. Prioritize safety in addressing allegations. Communicate and enforce that policy and protocol clearly to all staff and freelance workers.
  
  
• [[[SOMETHING ABOUT PREDATORY NDAs]]]
  
  
• Eliminate the need for whisper networks by developing a process for building institutional memory within individual organizations for retaining information about who is considered predatory, unsafe, and therefore unhireable. Whisper networks alone are inadequate and insufficient to protect workers, and shift burden unfairly onto individual gatekeepers.
  
  
• Work towards an industry-wide strategy for information-sharing about individuals who violate these principles, and standardize protocol for disciplinary action.

An ethical industry requires equitable access to opportunities and pay, as well as support for continued growth. Create clear systems, codes of conduct, training, and peer-to-peer programs to further identify and challenge implicit bias in decision making. »

Build relationships with a broad base of workers across demographics and geographies. The industry is only as strong as the most under-resourced, under-represented, and under-supported workers. When all workers are supported and an equitable workplace guaranteed, a community-centered industry thrives and provides pathways for upward mobility and prosperity for the industry.

Accurate, truthful, and high-quality storytelling leads to a well-informed society. This requires safe and respectful access to communities and a deep understanding of the issues, stories, and people being documented. This is achievable through inclusive hiring practices that promote a diversity of perspectives.

ACTION »

• Recruit, train, mentor, and support lens-based workers who are marginalized.
  
  
• Partner with equity groups to build and maintain diverse rosters of workers. Revisit and expand this list frequently.
  
  
• Establish and implement a comprehensive system to track and analyze hiring practices in order to ensure work opportunities are equitable.
  
  
• Create transparent pay structures that show fees across the board. Eliminate pay disparities on the basis of race, religion, gender identity, sexuality, age, [disability].

This Bill of Rights is a first step toward working as a collaborative and conscientious industry. We can make these changes together if we are willing to identify and address consistent problems at the individual and institutional level. »

If you are in a hiring position, co-sign and use this document to inform improved practices and to advocate within your organization for those you hire.

If you are an organization leader who relies on the work of lens-based workers, co-sign and use this document to reimagine and rework that relationship.

If you are in any position to amplify this message, please co-sign and advocate for improved policies and practices to shift the toxic and untenable state of our industry.

Visual storytelling at its best upholds integrity, respect, transparency, and accountability. Now is the time to work together to build a sustainable industry that is accessible, equitable, and inclusive for all; anything less impedes our ability to be a genuine mirror to the world.

We acknowledge this document was shaped by an American perspective and want to clearly state that an international application of these and other rights must be explored by hiring organizations to recognize how American media often exploits the labor and knowledge of lens-based workers outside the United States. We hope this can be a seed for individuals and organizations beyond the US to advocate for the specific needs of their communities. We will join in, amplify, and support any effort to that end.