Freelance Photographers: how often are your assignments scrapped?

[jaredangle]

I've been working since the beginning of April as a freelance photographer at my local college newspaper, and landed a permanent job as the publication's photo editor beginning in August. So far on the job, I've shot a good deal of photos, but some of my assignments end up getting dropped due to the story's reporter not showing up for assignments. I plan to remedy this by having my voice recorder, pad and pen, etc ready with me when I'm photographing a story in case the reporter doesn't show up and I need to write, but it's had me wondering.

How many working photographers here have the assignments scrapped because your partner is late/blows off the job? I understand that college newspaper staff aren't exactly going to be as serious as a professional reporter, but how often does this happen on the job?

 

[pachuco]

I've never had a writer not show up. That's really unprofessional and I'm sorry that happens to you!

 

[keytarjunkie]

That sucks! I've been working as a photo editor at my college's newspaper for a year and a half (crappy job, but at least there's steady pay) and my job is basically just to assign stories to a team of twenty-odd photographers, some who work for credits and some who just volunteer. Rarely does a story get scrapped after we're told to cover it.

 

[ijohnnyz]

I'm also the photo editor for my college paper. The paper has had both writers and photographers gone MIA on assignment. It affects their grade but I can't terminate them. The advising professor says great college newspaper staffs come in waves. Our best writers and photographers are usually freelancers. Stories get scrapped but our paper has an evergreen article bank of club profiles or services offered on campus, etc.

This never happens at the city newspaper I freelance for.

 

[jaredangle]

In better years, the job description of our paper's photo editor was simply to assign stories for the photographers to cover, and possibly take a few photographs themselves to fill in the blanks, and that was enough to keep their hands completely full with all the photos coming in.

The photo editor from 3-4 years ago, whom I know and have taken photography classes with before, chose all of the interesting photo assignments for himself, worked mainly on his own work, and blew off the freelancers. He was replaced with a new photo editor who is far better at the job, but the damage was already done. This past year it's been relatively impossible to get freelancers to bother with submitting photos to the paper. A few came on board at the beginning of the school year in August, received assignments, and shot them but never submitted them, right before the deadline. Between November and April, the paper was relatively devoid of photos. Everything was shot by the photo editor and the graphic designer.

When I was hired in April after the paper put out a call for photographers, I immediately started shooting for them (and submitted work I shot at the beginning of April that was relevant to a story a writer was working on). Between April and May, about two-thirds of the paper's photo content was shot by me, possibly more. The work was at a high enough level according to the adviser, that he made the decision to hire me as next year's photo editor. The new job description he gave me is different from what editors in the past have done. In addition to handing out photo assignments and shooting photo assignments, the photo editor also writes columns and stories alongside the writers and editors (state cuts to my college dictated a 15% cut to the paper's budget, meaning most of the permanent writers will be off the job).

The status of the freelance work that will come in next year is dependent on my actions this summer, as well. I'm going to try to put together a team of 3-4 local photography students from my college who will be reliable and are genuinely interested in the work, and would benefit from the photo credits and the small amount of pay that the college is able to give out when they shoot assignments. So far I've rounded up one person.

 

[jaredangle]

I'm also the photo editor for my college paper. The paper has had both writers and photographers gone MIA on assignment. It affects their grade but I can't terminate them. The advising professor says great college newspaper staffs come in waves. Our best writers and photographers are usually freelancers. Stories get scrapped but our paper has an evergreen article bank of club profiles or services offered on campus, etc.

This never happens at the city newspaper I freelance for.

I was planning on trying to freelance this summer and possibly longer for the city newspaper here (annarbor.com) but they just laid off several of their photographers (including one who is my college's photojournalism professor, so we're afraid about him moving to work in a different city and losing our only photojournalism professor). When they use photos now, they're primarily:

a) Iphone/Point and Shoot photos from the person who lives next to where the story is taking place.

b) Photos of news that happens within 3 or 4 blocks of the newsroom, since the two remaining photojournalists that work for the paper do more writing than they do photos and thus can never get out of the office. There is rarely anything newsworthy happening in this small radius.

Yes, that's TWO photojournalists. This publication is the main publication for a city of 115,000 people, and a small surrounding metro area that has about 100,000 more people.

 

[Damaso]

I think at a college paper it is not uncommon at a professional paper it is rare though sometimes a photo won't run due to space but if you were assigned you get a kill fee...

 

[emraphoto]

If i am assigned, i get paid a block of time. Regardless if stuff runs or not. I have never had your particular experience (someone flaking). Seems pretty much a 'never get the call again' move to me. That is certainly what i would expect if was called out for something and flaked.