Chicago Sun-Times axes photo staff

Chicago Sun-Times axes photo staff

    POSTED: 31 May 2013 6:28 AM
 
The Chicago Sun-Times laid off its entire photography department Thursday at the large daily newspaper, parent firm Sun-Times Media said.

CHICAGO: The Chicago Sun-Times laid off its entire photography department Thursday at the large daily newspaper, parent firm Sun-Times Media said.

The group will use pictures and videos from its text reporters or freelancers, a source familiar with the situation told AFP.

The company also said it was eliminating staff photographers at its suburban newspapers.

The cuts come as the US newspaper industry is struggling to cope with years of sharp declines in advertising revenues and dramatic changes in the media environment.

Major dailies have folded or cut their print editions to three times a week while a growing number are seeking more revenue from readers by establishing online "paywalls" which require subscriptions.

Some 28 people at the Chicago Sun-Times and its suburban papers were called into a meeting on Thursday morning and told their jobs would be eliminated immediately, the source said.

The source declined to comment on whether severance packages were provided.

The union representing Sun-Times journalists said it was "stunned" and "appalled" that any newspaper would consider photojournalists to be "expendable."

"This is offensive and wrong on so many levels," said Bernie Lunzer, president of the Newspaper Guild-CWA.

"I have learned time and again how the eye of a professional photographer can see and express things that I can't," Lunzer said in a statement.

"Apparently some accountant/manager can see and express things that I can't understand. Because this makes no sense."

Pulitzer Prize winner John White, who is nearing retirement age, was among those who lost their jobs.

"Being in the room with John White when we got laid off was a highlight of my career," said Rob Hart, a photographer with the group's suburban Pioneer Press.

"As soon as (Sun-Times editor) Jim Kirk said they were going to have the reporters produce multimedia for their rapidly changing platforms, I just had to walk out," he told News Photographer magazine.

There was no mention of the layoffs on the Sun-Times website Thursday afternoon, which ironically displayed a brief obituary for former chief photographer Bob Kotalik.

The newspaper also offered few details as to its strategy or reasoning in a brief statement released upon request.

"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," the newspaper said.

"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."

Sun-Times Media, which was driven into bankruptcy after press baron Conrad Black was caught raiding the coffers, publishes 42 suburban papers along with its flagship Chicago Sun-Times.

The Chicago newspaper is the nation's eighth largest daily, using a measure of print and digital subscribers, according to a survey from the industry's Alliance for Audited Media. Print circulated was 184,000 and total circulation 470,000.

- AFP/jc

- wong chee tat :)

    POSTED: 31 May 2013 6:28 AM
 
The Chicago Sun-Times laid off its entire photography department Thursday at the large daily newspaper, parent firm Sun-Times Media said.

CHICAGO: The Chicago Sun-Times laid off its entire photography department Thursday at the large daily newspaper, parent firm Sun-Times Media said.

The group will use pictures and videos from its text reporters or freelancers, a source familiar with the situation told AFP.

The company also said it was eliminating staff photographers at its suburban newspapers.

The cuts come as the US newspaper industry is struggling to cope with years of sharp declines in advertising revenues and dramatic changes in the media environment.

Major dailies have folded or cut their print editions to three times a week while a growing number are seeking more revenue from readers by establishing online "paywalls" which require subscriptions.

Some 28 people at the Chicago Sun-Times and its suburban papers were called into a meeting on Thursday morning and told their jobs would be eliminated immediately, the source said.

The source declined to comment on whether severance packages were provided.

The union representing Sun-Times journalists said it was "stunned" and "appalled" that any newspaper would consider photojournalists to be "expendable."

"This is offensive and wrong on so many levels," said Bernie Lunzer, president of the Newspaper Guild-CWA.

"I have learned time and again how the eye of a professional photographer can see and express things that I can't," Lunzer said in a statement.

"Apparently some accountant/manager can see and express things that I can't understand. Because this makes no sense."

Pulitzer Prize winner John White, who is nearing retirement age, was among those who lost their jobs.

"Being in the room with John White when we got laid off was a highlight of my career," said Rob Hart, a photographer with the group's suburban Pioneer Press.

"As soon as (Sun-Times editor) Jim Kirk said they were going to have the reporters produce multimedia for their rapidly changing platforms, I just had to walk out," he told News Photographer magazine.

There was no mention of the layoffs on the Sun-Times website Thursday afternoon, which ironically displayed a brief obituary for former chief photographer Bob Kotalik.

The newspaper also offered few details as to its strategy or reasoning in a brief statement released upon request.

"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," the newspaper said.

"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."

Sun-Times Media, which was driven into bankruptcy after press baron Conrad Black was caught raiding the coffers, publishes 42 suburban papers along with its flagship Chicago Sun-Times.

The Chicago newspaper is the nation's eighth largest daily, using a measure of print and digital subscribers, according to a survey from the industry's Alliance for Audited Media. Print circulated was 184,000 and total circulation 470,000.

- AFP/jc

- wong chee tat :)