Sun-Times gives photographers the axe

Newspaper chain fires its entire photo staff. Offers them only freelance work instead. BY ED COLLINS Contributor Times have been changing in journalism since print started going out of fashion more than a decade ago. Today you will find free digital journalistic content all over the Internet, some good, some amateurish, and some even sleazy or criminal. It seems like the old west again where anything goes. In a never-ending effort to cut production costs publishers and news content management of print publications have been scraping the financial bone lately trying to save a few bucks here and there just to keep going what’s left of what once was a mighty moneymaking marketing machine. However, television took the edge away and the computer seems to be finishing it off. Today’s publications are in transition scrambling to survive in a multimedia world. That’s not to say that good journalism and good newspapers no longer exist. It certainly does, both in print and on the web. But recent economic conditions have forced staff layoffs in recent years causing disruptions and slippage in quality of coverage with some papers. Investigative reporting has borne the brunt of this disaster. Other papers have simply sold out, ended up in bankruptcy, or just quit business. Most experienced and ethical editors realize you still need talented writers and photographers on board to collect and illustrate informative reader content, whether for print or digital publications. However, they need to balance this with the difficult cost of increased production. This week local journalism suffered another crushing blow. The Chicago Sun-Times fired without warning about 30 full-time photographers who worked for the newspaper chain, and closed their departments. Among them who was out on the street was long time Sun-Times Photographer John White, a 1982 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography who has been praised “for his consistently excellent work on a variety of subjects.” As an alternative, these Sun-Times corporate staffers were told they could re-apply as independent freelancers for periodic work at the chain’s nine daily collar-county newspapers (such as the Lake County News-Sun in Waukegan-Gurnee). This also includes its extensive Pioneer Press weekly chain (Deerfield Review, etc.), and of course the Chicago Sun-Times itself. The sudden and immediate change in job status wipes out their traditional benefits and their dependable salaries for those dozens affected. There has been not any reaction yet from the unionized Newspaper Guild and other union organizations that have undoubtedly been caught off guard, but they cannot be very happy to see their membership decimated. Management of the Sun-Times issued the following brief statement after announcing its department shutdowns: “The Sun-Times business is changing rapidly and our audiences are consistently seeking more video content with their news. We have made great progress in meeting this demand and are focused on bolstering our reporting capabilities with video and other multimedia elements. The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers, and as a result, we have had to restructure the way we manage multimedia, including photography, across the network.” Informal sources said they expect management will supplement the expected gap with freelance photographers by having more reporters carry a camera when covering an event.