back to article Snappers binned, mobe-armed hacks drafted at Chicago paper

The Chicago Sun-Times is training its journalists in iPhone camera work to replace its staff photographers, who were all laid off last week. The training commences on Friday and will include "iPhone photography basics", as well as capturing and editing video on iOS, and uploading it to the appropriate social sites, according …

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  1. Vimes

    Just because you're good at one job doesn't necessarily mean you'll be good at another...

    http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2002-09-24/

  2. Flywheel
    FAIL

    Good luck with that then..

    I wonder if the Chicago Sun-Times ever sends its correspondents into conflict/war zones? Good luck with trying to explain to the local warlord that "I'm a legit reporter - look at my cool iPhone which not only doubles as my camera /videocam but also my voice recorder". Still at least they'll be able to get in close.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Potential instagram fail

    I've always wanted my newspaper to look more vintage.

  4. richard?
    Thumb Up

    Real photos in line with the text...

    Could actually be good if the photos are taken by the reporter, at the time, and line up with what is written. How many articles have some stock photo, or the same as all the other articles, and give me a strong suspicion they were paraphrased from someone else's work...

    Some of the best articles on this site have photos by the hacks, usually accompanied with something like "it's a crap photo because the light in the pub was poor and I've only an iPhone 4" but at least you know it's real :-)

    1. Graham Dawson Silver badge

      Re: Real photos in line with the text...

      Almost all the content of the newspapers is cribbed from AP and Reuters these days. Often they don't even bother changing the text, they just stick a byline on it and pretend.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Real photos in line with the text...

        Um... just where do you think AP and Reuters get most of their content from?

      2. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

        Re: Real photos in line with the text...

        Almost all the content of the newspapers is cribbed from AP and Reuters these days.

        You get AP and Reuters? Luxury! My local paper is mostly MCT wire filler, with apparently no editorial oversight.

    2. Tom 35

      Re: Real photos in line with the text...

      "Could actually be good if the photos are taken by the reporter, at the time, and line up with what is written. How many articles have some stock photo, or the same as all the other articles, and give me a strong suspicion they were paraphrased from someone else's work..."

      I don't think that will change. Just that now anything that needs a wide angle, telephoto, or a real flash will be photo free, or have a stock photo.

      So the paper will be.

      50% ads

      30% wire stories that also appear in every other paper.

      10% stuff they 'paraphrased' with out checking from something they found on the internet (like the Onion).

      5% stuff readers sent in (free).

      5% stuff they actually wrote, often days old, now with cell phone photos.

      1. WereWoof
        FAIL

        Re: Real photos in line with the text...

        You forgot the 70% totally inaccurate bollox that appears in the Daily Fail such as this article:

        http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2333626/What-WILL-Google-block-child-porn-Jailed-life-yesterday-April-Joness-murderer-latest-child-killer-use-internet-fuel-perversion.html?offset=300&max=100#comment-32009308

  5. Gray
    Facepalm

    Oh joy ...

    the delight of watching shaky video, frantically blurred panning, and distracted photo composition, all taken while the journo/photog thumb-stabs the text into the fondle-slab? I don't think so ... but it must have felt good for thirty seconds or so to see all that payroll burden get shoved out the door. Good, until they see the next huge drop in subscription and advertising income.

    It's kinda like firing the coal stoker on the locomotive and handing the shovel to the engineer. That's a great way to keep your eye on the signals.

  6. Steve Foster
    Joke

    Cue Content Infringement lawsuits from Apple?

    ...because if the pictures/video is created with Apple equipment, surely they'll claim ownership rights? (that is in the Ts&Cs, right?)

    1. Tom 38

      Re: Cue Content Infringement lawsuits from Apple?

      2008 called, they want their gag back.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Cue Content Infringement lawsuits from Apple?

        " Re: Cue Content Infringement lawsuits from Apple?

        2008 called, they want their gag back."

        2007 called, apologised for iPhone!

  7. Lamont Cranston

    I think you're doing L!ve TV a disservice.

    They also had News Bunny, Britiain's Bounciest Weather (with Rusty Goffe), and, umm, Lunchbox Volleyball (a staple of my late night viewing, as a student). Better than BBCThree, anyway.

    1. Alfred

      And in Norwegian

      The weather in Norwegian with Eva Bjertnes. Tune out her voice and just stare.

      I typed that without fact-checking. Let's see how close I was....

      Google says: "Eva Bjertnes". Get in. Next pub quiz round on failed TV channels is mine.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I think you're doing L!ve TV a disservice.

      You forgot "The Weather Forecast is Swedish" .... for those who can't remember this was a weather forecast in swedish by a female swede in a bikini complete with subtitles .... in swedish. At the end of the forecast she switched to English to describe the current weather in Sweden!

      1. Lamont Cranston

        Re: I think you're doing L!ve TV a disservice.

        I seem to remember the north-European beauty delivering the weather report whilst dressed in evening wear. Proper classy.

  8. Cosmo
    Coat

    Topless darts was awesome!

    Back in the day before pr0n was speedy and ubiquitous on the interwebs, the topless darts were a very enjoyable 5 minutes of an evening.

    I'll get my coat... should be a yellow mac really.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Decent fotos from iPhone, Pah! Good luck with that.

    I suppose they would not be lossing readers if they took a professional view of their business!

  10. Robert Ramsay
    Facepalm

    The Chicago Sun-Times

    ...now has an estimated lifetime of six months...

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Reporting Quality

    They're going to have to be bloody good reporters if they're going to be able to not only capture a picture of an event but also pay attention to the details of what's happening around it in order to put together some meaningful description.

    I think the end result will be more, but crappier, reporting.

  12. squigbobble
    Trollface

    Surprised...

    ...nobody's ranting about them using the phone with possibly the crappiest camera.

    1. Greg J Preece

      Re: Surprised...

      That was my first thought. Of all the phones to be using...

  13. Peter Simpson 1
    Unhappy

    Someone should tell the Sun-Times

    It's not the equipment, it's the person using it. News photographers have lots of experience taking photographs. Some have even gone to school for it. Sure, your reporters can use iPhones. They might even be able to get them out, enter the unlock code, and bring up the camera before the moment to be photographed passes. Then, they might even get a shot.

    No zoom lens, no flash, tiny sensor. I guess that's god enough for the Chicago Sun-Times.

    //feel bad for the photogs, but maybe they'll be appreciated at their next jobs.

    1. An0n C0w4rd

      Re: Someone should tell the Sun-Times

      You can take photos and vids from the lock screen since iOS 5 I think (maybe iOS 4, honestly can't remember). Slide the camera icon at the right hand side of the slide to unlock bar up, and you're dropped into the camera app. This to me is poor security as there appears to be no way to turn that feature off, but *shrug*

      And the phones do have a flash. Admittedly nowhere near as powerful as a Canon Speedlite or the like, but then again if they're asking the journalists to take pictures, then they're not actually caring too much about the quality of the pics.

      1. An0n C0w4rd

        Re: Someone should tell the Sun-Times

        Oh, and yes, the tiny sensor will have a definite negative impact. The smaller sensors are nowhere near as sensitive as APS-C or 35mm sized sensors, so they tend to crank up amplifiers to handle low-light situations and hence introduce a lot more noise than a DSLR sensor would.

      2. Tom 35

        Re: Someone should tell the Sun-Times

        "And the phones do have a flash. Admittedly nowhere near as powerful as a Canon Speedlite"

        Understatement of the week.

        There are a few (not iPhone) that have a small xenon flash. The LED "Flash" most often found on a phone is only of any use for a few feet, better then nothing I guess.

  14. King Jack

    Phone Pictures

    I hope they teach them to shoot in landscape. I've seen footage shot in portrait and it is terrible.

  15. Herby

    Don't forget...

    To remove the protective cover on the Lens when you are shooting forward. It might be hiding under the case you just bought. It really screws up ALL the flash pictures, but they look OK when you frame them.

    Another thing: photography is an art like other things. To get it right takes LOTS of practice (and making mistakes).

    Me: I'd hire some of the BEST photographers as trainers for the new found picture takers. They might impart some useful knowledge!

    Now where was that Speed Grafic I had stored away in the closet.

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