The global image economy has changed. “So fast has been the phenomenal change that we don’t yet have the systems in place to control the digital revolution. We are clinging to old rules in the hope that they will support us in the new world. But they don’t fit. Put simply, we live in confused times” (Mayes, 2006). Two years ago the Dallas Morning News started experimenting with capturing still images from high definition video cameras. They found they could grab images good enough to run six columns across the page. Two years on and every major international newspaper is considering issuing its photographers with video cameras. How will this change the nature of visual news gathering? What are the essential differences between moving and still pictures? How will this influence the audiences understanding of the issues depicted?

This image shot with a video camera and then frame grabbed for a news story on the Chinese government increasing subsidies for students to combat rising inflation.
Photograph: Peter Carney, China (the student was given just one day to take the image)