Monday, June 03, 2013

Still photography vs. video

photojournalist with smartphone
The Chicago Sun-Times has fired its photography staff, and will use reporters with smartphones to shoot photos and videos for stories.

The newspaper said the radical change reflects the increasing importance of video in news reporting.

The Sun-Times had been a reservoir of talent – 28 people with decades of experience and skill. All gone all at once.

The paper's professional photographers had broad and deep knowledge of America's third largest city, and the hard-earned ability to tell prize-winning stories with pictures.

As the New York Times said, "Now it has some freelancers and reporters toting cheap cameras with their notebooks and pens."

Of course, this decision by the Sun-Times overlooks the news judgment and story-telling capability of the experienced photojournalists, as well as other considerations like composition, impact, beauty and focus.

Today, the prizes are awarded for website page views, length of stay at a website, and which stories are e-mailed the most. From that point of view, grainy security camera views and poorly-composed amateur images are as good as high-quality work from trained and experienced photojournalists.


Chicago Sun-Times Fires Photo Staff, Will Train Reporters to Use iPhones For Photos
MacRumors, May 31, 2013

Chicago Sun-Times lays off its photo staff
Chicago Tribune, May 30, 2013

Chicago Sun-Times drops photographers
CNN video Reliable Sources, June 2, 2013
Howard Kurtz talks to Pulitzer prize-winning photographer John H. White about what the layoffs mean for the news industry  (4:48)

Do Newspapers Need Photographers?
New York Times, May 31, 2013

Chicago Sun-Times fires entire photo staff, plans to train reporters to take pictures with smartphones
Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, May 31, 2013

Photo credit: Photojournalist shoots a crash scene with a smartphone, even though she has two SLR cameras and three telephoto lenses, in this meme found via Reddit. This was shot in Virginia and is not a Chicago Sun-Times photographer.