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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Idaho paper cuts photographer in half
Doug Pizac, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | USA | Posted: 1:17 PM on 08.23.11 |
->> Just heard from a friend in Boise that the Idaho Statesman had a round of cuts last week too -- 9 total with 7 of them out of the newsroom. They lost three copy editors, two reporters, a designer and night editor. To make up for the designer, one of the photographers who is good at design has had his job split 50-50 between the desk and shooting.
So the paper is now down to 4.5 photographers -- about the same it was 20 years ago. Four years ago they had nine shooters plus an intern I'm told. |
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Martin McNeil, Photographer
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London | London | United Kingdom | Posted: 1:27 PM on 08.23.11 |
| ->> And here I was, looking at your headline, thinking that it was some tragic workplace accident. |
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Randy Vanderveen, Photographer
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Grande Prairie | AB | Canada | Posted: 6:05 PM on 08.23.11 |
| ->> Or a magic trick. |
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Richard Uhlhorn, Photographer
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Chelan Falls | WA | USA | Posted: 10:53 AM on 08.24.11 |
| ->> And so goes the economic reality of the newspaper world. Such a shame that our print media hasn't really figured out how to monetize the Internet and other electronic platforms that are taking over our lives. |
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Michael Granse, Photographer
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Urbana | IL | USA | Posted: 11:35 AM on 08.24.11 |
| ->> Richard, even the entities that have managed to monetize the internet and other electronic platforms do not exactly have a great track record when it comes to appropriate compensation for photographers. |
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Doug Pizac, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | USA | Posted: 12:44 PM on 08.24.11 |
->> Richard and Michael...
With the plethora of prosumers and sites like Flicker and TwitPics, photography has become a commodity instead of being valued for its content and the skill it takes to produce it. That's how Time magazine was able to license a cover shot for around $35 a couple years ago where it would normally cost over a grand by going through a professional.
And it is this corporate commodity thinking that creates mega-agencies like the AP-Corbis deal where the money to be made is through distribution instead of the photography, and the merging of all the bay-area papers owned by Singleton into three papers resulting in the upcoming loss of 120 jobs. |
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Richard Uhlhorn, Photographer
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Chelan Falls | WA | USA | Posted: 6:59 PM on 09.02.11 |
->> But my point is that if the print media had it together when they entered the Internet market, they would have monetized it for what it was really worth.
Today, with advertising moving towards the net and other platforms, the print news media (with the exception of smaller papers still concentrating on their regions or communities)are struggling.
Weeklies and bi-weeklies are doing just fine because they cover local news, sports and events that are relevant to their readership.
National and International news is being regurgitated by daily after daily from AP feeds. How many dailies are concentrating on local news? Not many, and most of those news stories are not on the upper fold. Most literate people already know what is happening within minutes, so why do papers try to provide the same information a half day later in a printed work.
Just my 2 cents, and by the way, I do purchase the Seattle Times every Sunday. It is a Sunday morning ritual in my household.
Also, before you flame me, I love the printed page. I love the feel of it and I love looking and reading them over reading on the Internet.
I hate the idea that they are disappearing from our life, but the gravy train is over and the real world is moving on, particularly with the younger news consumer. |
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Thomas Boyd, Photographer
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Portland | OR | USA | Posted: 7:31 PM on 09.02.11 |
| ->> We actually go some good news recently. The Oregonian's circulation is up and they are operating in the black. |
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Richard Uhlhorn, Photographer
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Chelan Falls | WA | USA | Posted: 11:59 AM on 09.03.11 |
| ->> The Wenatchee World has formed a coalition with the Omak Chronical for the weekend edition and has suspended Monday publication. They have been cutting staff for several years, but seem to have leveled out. Paper has a lot fewer pages, but they seem to be concentrating more on local/regional issues than national issues. |
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Bruce Twitchell, Photographer
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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