Orlando Sentinel Tells Photographers Their Jobs are Gone, Will Need to Reapply for New ‘Videocentric’ Positions
Earlier this week, the photography staff of the Orlando Sentinel in Florida was pulled into a meeting in which they were told that their current jobs are disappearing, and they will need to apply to new more ‘videocentric’ positions by today, Friday, February 28th.
The news is being reported by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), who was told directly by one of the affected member of the Sentinel’s staff.
According to the NPPA’s source, on Monday, the staff was pulled into a meeting with Todd Stewart — the newspaper’s design, graphics and multimedia editor and a man who had never met with the photography staff before that day. In that meeting he explained that their jobs were effectively gone, and that the would need to reapply for a new set of positions that will focus on creating more video content for the newspaper’s website.
The silver lining, if there is one here, is that these positions are only available to internal applications, so the staff photographers who are losing their jobs won’t have much competition for the new positions.
Still, according to the report, 13 positions will be affected and there will be only 5 photo-centric positions left to reapply for. The rest of the positions will be split between two ‘mobile photojournalists’ positions (exactly what it sounds like…), two video editing positions, two video coordinator positions and two manager’s positions.
The newspaper’s management believes that increasing the amount of video on the website will help to increase readership/viewership… we have our own opinions regarding the wisdom of sacrificing still photography jobs in order to do this. For more info, head over to the NPPA website and read the full report.
[via PetaPixel] Photo Upheaval at Orlando Sentinel [via NPPA]
STC’s take:
This does not come as a surprise since paper-based magazines are making their move towards digital media. We have been suggesting all along that photographers with video capabilities will pave the road of the future. However, we do not believe that photography will disappear altogether.
As long as history repeats itself, the fact remains that quality photography will always have a place in the industry and will be the foundation for video and motion pictures. The downside is that many professional photographers will be forced to adopt and master a new skill set in order to compete and survive in today’s already unstable photography market.
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Image credits: Orlando Sentinel front page via Newseum
