Are Photojournalists A Digital Casualty?

By: Lou Carlozo | NetNewsCheck

It’s a Tuesday afternoon, and photographer Rob Hart lifts a glass of beer at the High Dive, a pub in Chicago’s funky West Town neighborhood. That picture, as they say, paints a thousand words: A few months ago, as a staff photographer for the Chicago Sun-Times, Hart would’ve been too busy shooting pics to hoist pints.

But that was before Hart went from reporting the news to making it. On May 30, the Sun-Times laid off its entire photography staff of 28, including Pulitzer Prize winner John White, in a move management deemed essential to clear the way for more online video. The story sent shock waves through just about every newsroom in North America and far beyond media circles.