Not exactly breaking news…
In a nod to the obvious, CNN announced yesterday that it was cutting its corps of cameramen.
Photographers, editors and other staffers in Atlanta, New York, Washington, DC, Los Angeles and Miami are being let go. In all, at least 50 positions are being eliminated. As many as 12 staffers in the Washington, DC bureau alone, four of whom are longtime photojournalists.
CNN Senior VP Jack Womack writes in a note to staff that the cuts come after a 3-year analysis of the company’s work processes.
Said Womack:
“We looked at the impact of user-generated content and social media, CNN iReporters and of course our affiliate contributions in breaking news. Consumer and pro-sumer technologies are simpler and more accessible. Small cameras are now high broadcast quality.”
Well, this is pretty inevitable.
When everyone and their brother has a video camera now… and when pretty much all of them are both HD and point and shoot, there isn’t a whoe lot to be said for investing $40-50K in a ‘broadcast quality’ camera, (whatever that now means) and some guy to drag it around.
It’s unfortunate for those who used to earn their living doing this, but it’s the natural consequence of the intersection of technology and economics. Farriers also are highly skilled, but there isn’t a whole of work for them these days.
The good side for former cameramen is that the demand for video, per se, is escalating at a phenomenal rate – but they have to deliver a finished product, not just the pictures.
5 Comments
jennifer November 15, 2011
Michael for straight news, I totally agree, plenty of wanna be journos desperate to be on air and willing to lug all the gear around and do it all. But for quality feature pieces and big shows, ie top gear, american idol, just to name the many, that is where most of the good camera operators are. Hacks with HD cameras cant get a job with them. This is what we do now. News is point shoot chop and slop. It will be many years before they are all chopped. I just returned form the UK and lunched with many of the major network bosses and their news teams were expanding, not reducing. Main aim of the game is look after yourself in the TV world and bugger the others. Works for the on air talent, it has just spread to the operators that’s all. As you know its all about the dollar.
jennifer November 13, 2011
This is an old argument. the airbus A380 can fly and land itself. But you still have pilots. it is not the point and shoot reason you have good camera people, it is the skills and the expertise they bring. Getting in there, racing to the right spot, but CNN have never let quality get in their way. I did camera work for them in 2002 and 2003, and really in LA they could not give a toss. We will edit around it was their attitude to all the crap they put to air.
Everybody has final cut now, shall we ditch editors? get some wedding editors and camera people to do the news hey.
Why stop here, a thousand examples of technology and operators abound.
But the viewers will not give a toss and wont notice to be honest. CNN hire a few big names and pay everyone crap. My time with them was short for the simple reason they paid a lot less than the other companies, so I now work for one of the majors. cheers jennifer
Michael Rosenblum November 14, 2011
Hi Jennifer
As went CNN so too will go the majors. It’s only a matter of time. Sorry to say.
Michael Rosenblum November 13, 2011
Could not agree more. Take Scott Pelley’s salary and you can hire 100 great video storyteller/reporters and make CBS News the #1 in digital journalism. Too bad they won’t do that.
steve November 13, 2011
while i agree with your premise, it appears to me that cnn has this thing totally backwards.
would you think it easier to teach a cameraperson, or wolf, gloria, david, donna, cooper, etc to “deliver a finished product”?
just take the five names i mentioned and think of all the “real” storytellers cnn could hire for their salaries.