Death Of the PJ, Part XXIV

[Topdog1]

Seems like there's alot of sour grapes here to me.

/Ira

 

[IGMeanwell]

I assume the heads at Reuters went to the movies and saw "Superman Returns"

saw the kid take the amazing 8x10 B&W photo with his cell phone camera and thought to themselves "THATS GENIUS!!!!!!"

Please don't misunderstand my view here. (note the use of smiley faces) Though I'm commenting rather tongue-in-cheek, I find it all rather interesting... photojournalism including shots of daddy and daughter standing in front of a tank. At the same time, who knows? Little 15 year-old Maggie Bemus from Beltbuckle, Texas, armed only with her Cingular pink Razr, may produce the only known images of a world-changing event... a.k.a. "the Abraham Zapruder film of the new millennium." As Pete said, it will be interesting to see how and what this may produce.

 

[Chaser]

Seems like there's alot of sour grapes here to me.

/Ira

Tends to happen when people's way of life is threatened by outsourcing.

 

[blakley]

Outsourcing isn't the only point here. The simple fact is that a lot of the time, the professionals do not and cannot by the nature of their job arrive until the newsworthy event is over. In such cases (e.g. the London train bombing), the only people who CAN get pictures of the event as it happens are the amateurs on the scene with whatever equipment they've got - including cell-phone cameras.

This kind of coverage may take bread off the PJ's table, but from the point of view of the news outlet, it provides not just cheaper coverage but in fact BETTER coverage, because it's not a bunch of shots of policemen standing behind yellow crime-scene tape.

 

[Chaser]

Outsourcing isn't the only point here. The simple fact is that a lot of the time, the professionals do not and cannot by the nature of their job arrive until the newsworthy event is over. In such cases (e.g. the London train bombing), the only people who CAN get pictures of the event as it happens are the amateurs on the scene with whatever equipment they've got - including cell-phone cameras.

This kind of coverage may take bread off the PJ's table, but from the point of view of the news outlet, it provides not just cheaper coverage but in fact BETTER coverage, because it's not a bunch of shots of policemen standing behind yellow crime-scene tape.

I agree, and professional doesn't mean better photo taker. I ocassionally get a great photo from "" non pros at the newspaper that I work at, but it seems that these agencys are actively persuing it as a means to keep labor costs down. Which isn't 100% their fault as it is a hard business to make a profit in.

 

[varjag]

Pah, I'll be concerned when they start outsorcing emergency services to good samaritians.

 

[Sparrow]

Pah, I'll be concerned when they start outsorcing emergency services to good samaritians.

Or start photographing the news before they start treating the injured!!

 

[Trius]

This is pretty much all about Yahoo, and very little about Reuters. News accounts for at most 10% of Reuters (or at least that was the case a couple of years ago); the rest is subscription information services.

 

[canonetc]

Oscar Wilde said, "The ultimate vice is shallowness." Seems that can cover a lot of areas, such as image saturation, internet fascination, cellphone cameras, Reuters/Yahoo and interpersonal relations. But its nice to know we at RFF care about some things by discussing them.

Chris
canonetc