But
while I don’t doubt the Kochs would do funky things with the content of our
city’s larger newspaper (I don’t buy into the concocted math that the Chicago Sun-Times
uses to claim it is bigger), I think those people who are concerned about the quality
of the news reports we get ought to be more concerned about what’s happening
these days at the one-time “Bright One.”
AS I WRITE this, I’m still trying to accept the Sun-Times’ announcement that it found another 20 to 30 people it can lay off from their jobs – the Chicago Sun-Times no longer employs photographers.
AS I WRITE this, I’m still trying to accept the Sun-Times’ announcement that it found another 20 to 30 people it can lay off from their jobs – the Chicago Sun-Times no longer employs photographers.
Which
strikes the historian in me as ironic in that one of the Sun-Times predecessors
(the Daily Times created in the 1920s) billed itself as the first Chicago
newspaper to rely heavily on photographs to tell the news.
Not
that there won’t be photographs in the Sun-Times. The newspaper (along with its
websites and any other products the Wrapports company decides to create) says
it will rely on freelance photographers, along with the possibility of its news
reporters being expected to take a camera of sorts with them to assignments.
A
reporter trying to comprehend the intricacies of public policy so as to explain
it properly to the public will have to take pauses in their mental process to
snap a picture.
AND
IF THEY wind up having to spend too much time getting that exact right shot,
they’re likely to miss details.
Trust
me when I say that it is going to impact the quality of images in the newspaper/website/whatever,
it will hurt the reporting as well.
I
write this knowing full well that I am not capable of doing both, and I know I’m
not unique. I realize there are some professional newspeople who can point to
times in their careers where they worked for publications that expected them to
do double duty.
But
that is evidence of the fact those people worked for cheap publications – ones that
were small-staffed enough because they didn’t expect to publish anything of any
substance.
SOMEHOW,
I DOUBT that the Sun-Times’ key to financial success is to publish a less
substantial newspaper – which would lead to less substantial websites and other
information-oriented products.
Because
the reality of our news is that while an increasing number of people may want
to read their stories on the Internet, the websites that are the most
highly-read are the ones that are affiliated with existing newspapers or
television stations or other newsgathering outfits.
They
are the ones that can reappropriate the content for the Internet. And in cases
where they first publish a breaking story on the website, it can be updated and
rewritten for the following day’s newspaper.
Which
can result in better copy – except in cases where editors think the printed
word is supposed to be less substantial than what turns up on the website.
I
DON’T DOUBT that some, if not most, of the freelance photographers the
Sun-Times winds up relying upon will be the same individuals who were, until
Thursday, gainfully employed by the newspaper.
Some
of them may even draw so many assignments that the amount of money in their
paychecks will be about the same as they were taking home before. But
freelancers don’t get the benefits or job security that usually inspires an
employee to take his company’s product seriously.
What
this all comes down to is an attempt to reduce the budget by not having to
cover health insurance benefits. Because these workers are now going to have to
figure out how to get themselves coverage.
Which
means that it would be a heck of a lot of nerve on the Sun-Times’ part if they
take up the cause of ranting and raging against “Obama-care,” because they’re
adding to the number of uninsured who will have to take advantage of federal
benefits – all so they can try to bolster their financial bottom line.
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment