Making HCN a home for visual journalists of all backgrounds

For the past several years, the High Country News Production Department has been working to diversify the artists who produce photos and illustrations for HCN, as well as the people represented in the images we publish.

The results may be hard for readers to put a finger on, but they’re at the heart of HCN’s efforts to better tell the stories of the West.

I talked to HCN’s visuals editor, Roberto “Bear” Guerra, who joined the publication in 2020 as these efforts were ramping up. We talked about the art team’s work so far and its goals for the future of visual storytelling in High Country News.

The conversation has been edited for clarity. Read an expanded version at hcn.org.

Michael Schrantz: First, how would you describe your work around diversity in the imagery High Country News publishes?

Roberto “Bear” Guerra: It takes several forms. We’re working to ensure that our art contributors are more representative of the diversity of the West and of the communities that have been underrepresented in the pages of the magazine and in the industry as a whole. The first step is publishing more artists from diverse backgrounds, which, in this context, refers to racial and ethnic identity, culture, gender and sexual identity. So, since mid-2020, we have been keeping track of those who are contributing art for our stories, as well as of the people represented in the imagery we use.

But it isn’t just about numbers. We want to support these artists so they can do their best work and create meaningful, sustainable careers in this challenging industry. That means making contracts and rates fairer and building strong relationships with artists. We’re also thinking more about how our visual storytelling can contribute to thoughtful, nuanced and complex representations of Western communities. 

I want HCN to be a publication where contributors from diverse backgrounds see a home for themselves and their work and where our visual storytelling leads the way in how underrepresented communities are portrayed. I’m inspired by the work of HCN’s Indigenous Affairs desk, because they have been doing this for several years.  

MS: When you arrived at HCN, did you know immediately this was going to be a focus for you?

RG: When I started out as a young Latino photographer, it was rare to see myself represented in the pages of most publications or in their editorial leadership. So, yes, one of my personal goals when joining HCN was to do what I could to make it a home for artists whose perspectives about the West have been underrepresented in journalism. 

Just a few months after I started at HCN, the production department brought in a visual media consultant to help us understand who had historically been hired to create photos and illustrations for the magazine and how members of Western communities were being represented. The results gave us a baseline to work from when evolving how we commission and approach visual storytelling.

The consultant made clear to us that HCN could be an industry leader, not only in terms of hiring a diverse pool of contributors but also in how we represent the connection between people and place for diverse communities in the West. I took that to heart. For a magazine all about place-based reporting, if we’re not leading in supporting and representing the West’s diverse communities, then who’s it going to be?

MS: You’ve also been on the other side of the publication process, pitching and submitting as a freelance photographer. What do you bring from that experience to the project of diversifying HCN’s visuals?

RG: It’s important to assign photographers and illustrators who are culturally competent for the work, but it’s just as important to recognize that each of us is passionate about all kinds of things and we bring a lot to assignments beyond our identities or language skills. As a freelancer, it meant a lot to work with editors who commissioned me for stories they knew were important to me. As an editor, I want to bring that same awareness whenever I commission someone for a story.

For artists to see HCN as a home for their work, they need to see themselves in our pages.

MS: Inherent in HCN’s commitment to documenting the West as accurately and honestly as possible is the ongoing process of learning and improving. How do you see institutional changes like these manifesting in stories that better reflect the West?

RG: It feels obvious to say, but having reporters, editors and artists from underrepresented backgrounds inevitably leads to more nuanced reporting. Take coverage of Latinx communities as an example: So much focus on immigration and migrant farm workers — often framed as jumping from crisis to crisis — saps reporting resources that could better benefit those communities or help a wider audience gain a deeper understanding of the issues at play.

Again, I see HCN’s Indigenous Affairs desk as a model for how we can report for and about communities that are underrepresented in the media. That work is guided primarily by Native editors and writers, whose backgrounds and lived experience ensure that the stories resonate in ways that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. HCN’s coverage of Native communities has been transformed from what it was not even a decade ago. 

MS: How do you see this work in relation to what we owe to the region we’re a part of and represent?

RG: It’s part of our responsibility as a journalism outlet today to holistically cover our region. To do that, we need reporters, photographers and artists who can build sustainable careers, bringing their own backgrounds and experiences to the work of telling nuanced, critical stories about the West.

When it comes to art, having staff and contributors with more varied backgrounds and experiences naturally expands our ideas about what visual storytelling can be. I think we’re seeing this in how the magazine is evolving.

MS: What do results look like?

RG: We have a ways to go in representing the diversity of Western communities in our pages, but I think we’re making progress. For artists to see HCN as a home for their work, they need to see themselves in our pages. I’ve had many conversations with folks who haven’t been published in HCN in the past but are now starting to see it as a good place for their work. I’m heartened to see a shift happening.

Michael Schrantz is the marketing communications manager for High Country News based in Santa Fe. Email him at [email protected] or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.

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