By Anna Retzlaff

“I never would have guessed in a million years … that I would be called an enemy of the people.”

For over 40 years, photo and broadcast journalist David Dellaria has been behind the camera on shows most households know well, like “60 Minutes” and “COPS”. Though these shows have remained consistent, the world around them is has significantly changed.

Dellaria remembers what it was like when he was first starting out. “There was something called ‘journalistic integrity’, and you couldn’t lie about what you said.” With the internet providing seemingly endless news platforms and sources, Dellaria says no one knows or trusts the source of information anymore. When there were only a few channels on cable, things were much different.

Dellaria earned a broadcast degree from San Jose State University and started at a local Bay Area newspaper. “It was like starting a marathon every day,” he said. Dellaria would spend his workday running in and out of the darkroom, eating lunch at the typewriter as the film developed. Later, a whole day’s work of constant rushing and delicate film handling would all go towards a minute-long segment for the five o’clock news.

Still, a small mistake could ruin the product of those tedious steps. If the projector was not working well, “then your entire story never aired, and they’d say, ‘Oh, well. We had some technical difficulties,’” Dellaria said.

Now, creators can take digital videos with fewer steps. “Some producers will just roll the whole camera for four hours,” then find the usable parts later. Dellaria remembers when all they had was 150 feet of film—enough for four minutes, not hours. The time and resource challenge created a need for packed, efficient interviews. Dellaria found that these bygone challenges were valuable to him. “I know for a fact that made me a much better cameraman,” Dellaria said.

Now, it is simpler and more universal than ever to create and share video work. A smartphone owner could take, edit, and share video faster and with more room for error than producing a film reel. “That’s a means to put out a story, but the problem is: what’s the source? It’s up to you to decide what to make of it,” said Dellaria. He believes this is the biggest downside to the modernization of video production. Though, Dellaria also sees good potential in making it universally possible for people to deliver information.

Regardless, the treatment and perception of journalists have changed across quite a few fronts. Camera operators used to have more freedom to film what they wanted. In Dellaria’s experience, institutions prioritize protecting their curated image over anything else. What journalists can film is now more restricted than it used to be for Dellaria.

“They don’t care if you’re ‘60 Minutes’ or the local, you know, NBC station. They’re going to make sure you don’t come anywhere near their property and don’t film anything that they don’t control,” Dellaria said. “Everybody has figured out they want to protect their image.”

Quite aware of what has changed, Dellaria is not sure what the future of journalism will look like. He finds it “unfathomable” that people have made enemies of the free press in America. Seeing journalists in a place that he finds hard to believe, he does not feel like he can predict which direction the industry is going.

Dellaria, having experienced so many changes over the course of his career, wonders along with the people who ask him what the future of journalism will look like. He wants to remain positive. “I know that there are young people capable of doing all of these jobs and more,” Dellaria said.

It seems no one can give journalists the comfort of a predictable future. However, those about to enter the field may find comfort in hearing what those before us have braved through. There are unknown struggles rising journalists will go through, yes. But, if we look at stories like Dave Dellaria’s, we can clearly see we will not be the first ones to survive going through major change.

(At least we will never have to deal with typewriters or developing film. I think we can do it.)