A group of 13 freelance photographers have been told there will be no more freelance work for them at the Manchester Evening News.
Last December the MEN axed its picture desk and put its photographic team under the direct control of the newsdesk.
Now it has told 13 of the 14 freelance photographers that regularly carry out shifts for the paper that in future it will be relying on staff photographers.
The one exception is a freelance regarded as a specialist in “snatch” pictures who has been retained to carry out court photography shifts.
The news was communicated in an email sent by the paper’s associate editor (live news) Wayne Ankers.
It is thought that some of the photographers affected have been carrying out work for the paper for more than 30 years.
The email from Wayne, which was leaked to HTFP, initially stated that there would be no more shifts available from next week onwards, week commencing 13 October.
However after it was pointed out that the paper previously agreed to give one month’s notice to all freelancers if the current arrangement with with them was to end, he sent a second email saying the last shifts offered would be for the week starting 3 November.
One of the photographers affected told HTFP: “I know Wayne is probably only the messenger for a decision made higher up in the organisation but to be dropped like this by email is an insult and totally bad manners.
“We are not a bunch of kids fresh out of media college but dedicated and highly professional photographers with many years service who have worked extremely hard to provide the MEN with the best pictures to be found anywhere in regional or national journalism.
“It would have been nice to have been called personally and told of the decision in view of our loyalty to the paper over so many years and not just dumped.”
There has been no comment as yet from the newspaper or from publisher Trinity Mirror.
Wayne’s original email read: “As you may be aware we have recently employed two videographers/stills photographers and now we have ten staff in the photographic department we feel we can no longer continue under the current arrangement.
“I have decided that we still need a court photographer but rather than spread five shifts amongst 14 freelancers we will be just using one photographer, Steve Allen.
“I understand that this will come as a disappointment to many of you who rely on shifts from the MEN.”
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I can remember when, just a few years ago, the MEN decided it could manage without any staff photographers, depending entirely upon freelances. Now they are back where they started, though, I suspect, with fewer photographers doing even more work. Progress. eh?
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When are the greedy incompetent newspaper bosses going to realise…FACES SELL PAPERS!! ESpecially regional weeklies.cutting out photographers is like cutting off an arm!
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Was there no quote from his colleague Brian Astards?
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10 staff in the photography department? Some other trinity mirror regionals will view that with interest!
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The final injustice for MEN freelance photographers, with collectively, several hundred years experience, is an insensitive group email detailing their imminent departure from the title. Two years ago the MEN freelance rate was slashed from £145 to £120 (no exes) and the number of shifts was also cut at the same time. It’s a far cry from the days when staff and freelances were well paid and treated with respect by a Guardian owned MEN. One can only shudder at the staffers soon to increase workload.
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Mr Angry – because only photographers can take pictures of faces???
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@Slade – good luck taking face shots with your iPhone or iPad. When people were raving about iPhone photos after Hurricane Sandy it was noticeable that they were all wide shots.
So, yes, reporters can pick off the “low hanging fruit” — poor quality wide shots. But the breadth of coverage and overall standard is compromised.
The Manchester Evening News’ coverage of the Queen’s visit not long ago was a laughing stock online. I wonder if that’s when they realised they actually DO need staff photographers?
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/royal-visit-open-new-co-op-6303911
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Used to work and play footy with Wayne back in the day. Nice bloke
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Newsdesk in charge of Photography was always going to go wrong
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Same thing happened in Scotland with trinity owned daily record and Sunday mail in April this year. Good for the people offered staff jobs but very little shifts/jobs for freelancers.
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Slade the leveller. Anyone can take a picture. Not everyone can take a good one. Which is why local papers are full of out of focus, poorly composed and dull snaps, all sent in free of course! The readers can tell, you know!
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The final injustice for MEN freelance photographers, with collectively, several hundred years experience, is an insensitive group email detailing their imminent departure from the title. Two years ago the MEN freelance rate was slashed from £145 to £120 (no exes) and the number of shifts was also cut at the same time.
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That’s the problem – people thinking that non-photographers can take pictures of faces – properly antway. The constant publication of wonky, poorly-composed, badly exposed mobile phone photographs and crap video are a testament to that.
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Yes decent, professional ones not camera phone snaps. It’s their job, they are good at it!!
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I have a pair of scissors at home, but that dosen’t make me a hairdresser!! If you use JPs UGC formula, you reduce your publication to the level of Facebook, but Facebook is free!
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What comes around…
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It saddens me to hear the news that 13 of my friends are no longer to receive future work from the Manchester Evening News. They are all great photographers who have provided years of excellent service for the MEN and its readers. I wish them all the best for their futures in what are obviously extremely challenging times for photo journalists.
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Sorry, but I had to Google Wayne Ankers. He’s heard them all before I’m sure.
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Mr Angry. You are so right about JP user generated copy. I am ashamed to see most of the stuff in my paper. Worst of all is when someone blows up a 40kb image to desperately fill one of their wretched templates and you get a mosaic ! But in they go! No professionalism or pride.
Hope things work for these guys.
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It’s unbelievable that newspaper managements think it acceptable to treat people who have served so loyally for so long in such a way. Thirty years ago there would have been a strike over this! Maybe I’m being naive but perhaps managements could bear in mind that people they discard so callously are real people.
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I do laugh, The Brighton Argus pays £55.00 a photographic shift and has done for 25 years, says a lot about the state of the paper does it not?????
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Smudger is spot on when it comes to JP’s disastrous approach. I’ve lost count of the number of times the evening papers around here have had to blow up a head and shoulders shot or an external pic of a building to three columns just to satisfy the horrendous template demands. A good photograph would have given the page (and papers) interest. Now all we’re left with is lower sixth form standard design with hardly a shred of visual interest, betrayed professional staff and a dwindling readership sniggering at ‘the latest cock-up by the Evening Desperate…’
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Slade the Leveller, ‘Anyone can take a picture’…………….yes to a degree they can, just like anyone can write copy…………so we know what is coming next!
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Back in the day…
I started work as a photographer on a paper big enough to warrant a picture editor that didn’t have one, but at least the newsdesk team assumed – without knowledge of our business – that we knew what we were doing and left us to it. Following retirements and, unfortunately, a couple of deaths, the newsdesk was taken over by a complete pig who thought professional pictures could be taken as fast as a holidaymaker with a pocket snapshot camera – without even allowing time to drive from one job to the next – and who frequently used an untrained ‘freelance’ who had no more idea than believing owning a camera gave him the right to get women to undress (and to hell with the reputation of the paper and its professional staff photographers as a result of the implied association with him) as a means of getting more pictures, no matter how crap they might be.
While digital may have cut down on film processing time and allowed pictures to be submitted from the scene and while I hope the MEN is still slightly more fussy than the above mentioned news ed from Barnsley, if there ever was an overgrown reporter that knew what pictures were about, I’ve yet to hear of him/her…
Bean counters rule, it would appear
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I guess they chose to cut the freelance budget, rather than more redundancies, which is good for staff. Wayne Ankers could have made 13 personal calls, 1 hour of his day.
Nothing annoys me more are emails that are badly written, without thought and people tapping out emails when they sit behind you. Use the phone people.
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