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Photographer roles at risk as newspaper looks to increase UGC

Ian-Murray12More photographic roles have been placed at risk at a Newsquest-owned regional daily in a further move towards the greater use of user generated content.

Earlier this year the Southern Daily Echo axed the picture editor and deputy picture editor roles at its Southampton office and created a new role of user generated content editor in their place.

Now the title has announced plans to further reduce the number of photographic role by a further two, as part of what editor Ian Murray is calling a “move away from images provided by staff photographers.”

Although the chief photographer role will remain, three staff photographers at the paper have been placed at risk of redundancy with only one of them set to be retained.

The move was announced in a statement by editor Ian Murray earlier this month which has been seen by HoldtheFrontPage.

It said:  “As part of the introduction of the Newsquest Newsroom of the Future project including digital streamlining of the multimedia newsrooms and content gathering across Newsquest, changes are proposed to the editorial department in Southampton.

“In the light of increasing user generated content, it is proposed to reduce the size of the photographic department from three full-time photographer positions to one photographer role.  The role of Chief Photographer is not affected by this proposal.

“The proposed changes would see the emphasis move away from images provided by staff photographers and towards greater use of freelancers, user generated contest and images provided by other members of the editorial staff.”

The consultation began earlier this month and is due to end on Friday 16 October.

Chris Morley, NUJ national Newsquest coordinator, said: “These photographic cuts are the latest in a long, dismal line of similar cuts elsewhere in the country. They are a grave mistake and put trusted and respected media titles under real reputational risk.

“Stories about individuals and organisations unable to afford their own professional photography will be increasingly marginalised. erification and authenticity of user-generated content will be increasingly difficult to achieve, opening Newsquest to attacks on the reputation of its titles.”

23 comments

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  • September 28, 2015 at 8:02 am
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    I’m sure the Southerm Daily Echo’s readership will just love having more pics of backs of people’s heads from this year’s pantos, blurred images sent in from enthusiastic yet clueless press contacts at local clubs and pixilated selfies from amateur authors trying to plug their latest ‘thriller’

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  • September 28, 2015 at 8:59 am
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    Will there be any professionals working in the Newsroom of the Future? Also “images provided by other members of the editorial staff”. I presume they will be paid extra for performing these extra duties. Of course they will.

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  • September 28, 2015 at 9:26 am
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    More dumbing down. Trained professional photographers can never be properly replaced by public or untrained staff taking pics. Just because mobile phones can take pics it doesn’t make the user a photographer.
    It’s like saying a good lap top makes you a good writer.

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  • September 28, 2015 at 9:31 am
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    As a regular ‘looker’ at the Echo and its satellites, I should have thought that another deline in standards was the last thing they needed..

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  • September 28, 2015 at 9:44 am
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    sadly this will be a common situation across the regional press where more and more UGC is both requested and used.
    social media is a popular and rich hunting ground for this content with a junior face booking those who have put up images or have on the spot pix of incidents albeit often poor quality though these days that’s not a concern for RP editors.
    I was emailed twice in the past few months by juniors asking permission to use iphone pictures I had taken and posted on twitter and facebook ( the answer was no)
    Nowadays .its only in the quality end of the local press eg; local magazines, where theres real opportunities for professional photographic work due to the high spec needed.

    unfortunate but the way things are going and the thin end of the wedge I`m afraid

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  • September 28, 2015 at 10:17 am
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    When will these user picture generators wake up to the fact that their pictures are worth money!! Joe public needs educating, on how they are destroying not only people’s livelihoods but the papers they are so desperate to get their 5 minutes of fame in….. Profit and greed the now “in words” of all newspaper owners….

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  • September 28, 2015 at 10:24 am
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    ‘Increased use of freelances’ In other words, the staffers we’re about to sack then re-employ on cheap freelance contracts when we realise this plan doesn’t work

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  • September 28, 2015 at 11:25 am
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    Everything is cyclical. There will be a period of no professional photography in the regional media, then someone will have a ‘bright’ idea to make their hyper-local webzine stand out from the crowd. They will employ a pro snapper… And so the circle turns…

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  • September 28, 2015 at 12:49 pm
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    Newsquest must have a load of Nikon gear for sale by now !!

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  • September 28, 2015 at 1:19 pm
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    More poor quality images of people standing in rows – or maybe standing behind each other if you’re lucky!
    I bet the Echo’s declining number of readers are licking their lips in anticipation.

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  • September 28, 2015 at 2:19 pm
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    Before the last photographer leaves the building could one of them take a new mugshot of Ian Murray? I gather Dorian Gray is getting quite jealous.

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  • September 28, 2015 at 2:22 pm
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    The absolute fools who now control and.’manage’ newspapers today are digging their own grave. It doesn’t take a genius to see that lowering the quality of your product will lead to disaster. Furthermore taking the UGC route will take them into FACEBOOK territory. If they think they can compete with Facebook then they are deluded. Especially as FB is FREE!!! The REALLY DONT HAVE THE FIRST CLUE about what they are doing!!!! But they are putting skilled and hardworking staff in peril! Lions led by donkeys!!!!!

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  • September 28, 2015 at 3:17 pm
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    I was a Newsquest staffer for 12 years before I was binned along with all my fellow photographers. I occasionally pick-up a copy of one of ‘our’ papers and just shake my head at the diabolical quality of pictures they now print. Pictures I’d be ashamed to even put my name to are now the mainstream for Newsquest. It doesn’t matter how bad they are – fuzzy mobile phone snaps or screen grabs from social media – are free. Their freelance rate is a pittance at £80 per-day which means former staff togs with industry qualifications and years and years of experience are paid the same as any old plonker with a DSLR kit from Jessops that thinks they’re a photographer. P mode right?

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  • September 28, 2015 at 5:45 pm
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    As an editor of several regional, evening and weekly papers over 30 years I have to admit I was demanding of my photographers but I greatly appreciated their efforts – they might be surprised to hear that! – and they produced some superb images. I devoted the entire front page to one of their dramatic pics many times, based purely on news values. One pic with a headline told the story. And sold papers. The text went on page 3 (or more if needed with more pics – obviously.)

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  • September 28, 2015 at 6:59 pm
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    @mrangry2 not only is Facebook free, but it’s miles better from a technical perspective.

    I was just thinking this today when I was looking at pictures of the blood moon. Do I want to see a nice hi-res gallery put together by my pro photographer mates? or do I want to look at a small selection of cobbled together pics, put together in a low-res format and surrounded by pop-up adverts? Most website galleries are neither use nor ornament thrown together at the last minute without any thought or attention.

    I think you can guess the winner.

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  • September 29, 2015 at 9:00 am
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    Because most of the local rags have got rid of their professional snappers, they are desperate for Joe Public’s pictures. They need to wake up to the fact that if they stopped supplying them for free, they’d be able to make some cash, because otherwise the papers would be stuffed. Stop supplying for free and demand payment!

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  • September 29, 2015 at 12:16 pm
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    So very angry and so many exclamation marks mr angry!!!!!!!!!!!!

    The isdue isn’t that the RP is in competition with Facebook (?) it’s that standards have dropped so low and costs have been cut to the bone so the cheap and easy route is to tap into the celebrity culture mentality and encourage the public ,I won’t say ‘readers’ as most of them aren’t they’re too young and not interested to pick up a paper, and ask for UGC
    whilst standards remain this low with no sign or possibility of employing pro photographers the editors are really only managing decline and most of them know it ( but appear to be in denial about it all )
    There is no point in them paying a salary when they can get it free from joe public who will enjoy the bragging rights to having his or her name printed in the local rag.
    Sad but you can’t turn a tide that’s already rolling

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  • September 29, 2015 at 3:34 pm
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    Even now, the public doesn’t always oblige.
    The main image on the page in local papers now is often a file picture of a court entrance. Or a generic shot of police tape.
    Or a football.

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  • September 30, 2015 at 9:49 am
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    Yeah, No prospects, but what do they do when there’s no local rag left for them to have bragging rights about? I give the entire industry – declining newspapers, rubbish websites, transferring jobs to India like there’s no tomorrow – ten years, if it’s lucky. What’s going on right now is like watching a beloved relative dying slowly from a terminal disease. I, for one, can’t bear to look any longer, which is why I’m searching for a way out. Any way out.

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  • October 1, 2015 at 3:08 am
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    I agree echo , those of us who have been in RP for many years and who have stood in the middle while standards have fallen all around us have watched this once credible industry crumble due to greed, chasing quick profits and an all round dumbing down of the business.
    As standards have dropped due to cutting jobs and ‘making savings’ so has the quality of the end product, the papers themselves,and as a result readerships and commercial revenues have gone with them.

    Across the whole industry department by department so many cuts and savings have been made and experienced staff laid off which have given us this watered down industry that we see today.
    There’s no long term future for anyone currently working in RP whether they accept it or not, and the cute ones will be planning an exit strategy already,majority of the best staff have already gone and in my experience are thriving elsewhere.
    It is sad to watch the melt down ,and the speed in which the decline is happening is taking place much quicker than most of us imagined making me wonder just what will be left of traditional regional press in say 1-2 years time?
    No a lot I would suggest and certainly not enough to sustain the current level of jobs without many more ‘ restructures’ taking place.
    All makes for grim reading I’m afraid but no surprises as we have seen this coming for ages, the good ones have jumped ship already while the rest cling to the wreckage of an industry slipping beneath the waves in double quick time .

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