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Daily photographers face Christmas job cuts verdict

Photographers at a regional daily are facing the prospect of redundancy just days before Christmas.

The South Wales Evening Post, part of the Local World group, has confirmed it is carrying out a review of its photographic team.

According to the National Union of Journalists, three jobs are at risk – two staff photographers and a picture desk role – and those affected may learn their fate today.

Should the proposals go ahead it will leave one photographer covering the West Wales area and four covering the city of Swansea and surrounding area.

Evening Post editor Jonathan Roberts, pictured, said: “The structure of the photographic team in Wales is currently being reviewed.

“I cannot confirm numbers at this stage as discussions are taking place with employees who may be affected.”

The Post’s NUJ represenative Jason Evans commented: “The NUJ opposes these photographic redundancies – good news pictures are the lifeblood of a newspaper, and a vital part of what we do online.

“The cutting of skilled photographers is a blow to the paper, a loss to our readers and is devastating for staff morale.

“The South Wales Evening Post covers a large part of South West Wales and these cuts will put even more pressure on existing staff, who will inevitably have to pick-up the extra work.

“And the timing of the redundancies – coming just days before Christmas – could hardly be worse.”

In recent weeks publishers Newsquest and Johnston Press have both announced redundancies among their photographic staff at their titles across the country.

Reporters at Stourbridge Newsquest NUJ chapel this week resolved to refuse to undertake photographic jobs after a plan to cut four photographer roles down to one full-time equivalent across the publisher’s Worcester division was revealed.

14 comments

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  • December 22, 2014 at 8:03 am
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    O think the saddest thing about newspapers now, the local ones, is the awful quality of photographs. I have looked at a group say at a function, and every face is white with no distinguishable features!
    That, coupled with the low grade of newsprint, does not make a pretty sight.

    As for the timing all this, does anyone at these organisations have a heart? No doubt the directors will be quaffing their drinks at Christmas and generally making merry, holding a big pencil with which to strike out names.

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  • December 22, 2014 at 8:46 am
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    Couldn’t they have waited ’till after Christmas?

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  • December 22, 2014 at 9:57 am
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    In answer to Disgruntled Toggy…in my 35 years experience in local newspapers, it’s striking how often such announcements do come just before Christmas. It’s almost as if big newspaper corporations calculate at what time of year they are likely to meet with least resistance.
    That is, of course, a very cynical reading of the situation.

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  • December 22, 2014 at 1:55 pm
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    It’s to get you off the books before the year end accounts!

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  • December 22, 2014 at 5:32 pm
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    Almost lensman….it’s to make a good start to next financial year because these photographer costs would be included in original forecast for the year. Trebles all round for execs!

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  • December 22, 2014 at 11:24 pm
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    Remind me – have there recently been any management changes at the top in Swansea?

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  • December 22, 2014 at 11:44 pm
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    We’re on the slide. They’ll be scrapping the management expense account at Gallinis next!

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  • December 22, 2014 at 11:53 pm
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    The realignment of our imagery capturisation workforce into a non-employed status is a necessary innovative procedure as we continue our industry standard-bearing leadership quest, aligned with a 110% desirous factor relating to the ongoing upward ascendance in the salary, bonus and benefits curve of the inner sanctum of shareholders, management team and localised MDs as we apply a masquerade cover story to our implementation graph, proclaiming it to be purely a developmental stage in our pursuit of digital transformation, when reality applicators would unveil actuality to be a swift and speedy ongoing march to personal profiteering as we disembowel and dismember quality portfolio bundles in our ongoing quest to lactate them for maximum return over a minimal period with a less than 0% care for the consequences.

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  • December 23, 2014 at 5:37 am
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    Look at Local World’s actions up and down the country – shutting papers, merging editions, closing offices, chopping staff (we only hear via HTFP of just some of the job losses btw) and it’s pretty clear targets set by London for 2015 must be pretty tough. Oh, and that any public proclamation that they are investors in print (aka properly-funded local journalism) is, at best, disingenuous.

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  • December 23, 2014 at 3:43 pm
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    Thank you Abacus Arthur, for that most interesting clarification . I’ll buy you a treble 😉

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  • December 23, 2014 at 9:42 pm
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    Old journo – there are some very skilled toggers out there. Book yourself in to get yer cataracts done so you can see clearly again. Or were you just looking at snaps sent from Mrs Miggins’ ‘ I’m a photojournalist’ mobile phone? It’s an age thing old dear.

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  • January 7, 2015 at 6:10 pm
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    Newsquest have done exactly the same to the majority of their staff ‘togs in the run up to Christmas. I know – I’m one of them! Axing dedicated, experienced photographers in favour of the local camera club or readers with camera phones because they can replace the quantity and quality of pictures taken by professional photographers right? It just shows Newsquest’s disdain for anyone who costs them money. All the sub-editors axed in 2013, most photographers axed in 2014, if you’re a reporter at Newsquest I’d be very worried…

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