DENVER – The publisher of the Denver Post claims the owner of the Rocky Mountain News said the paper would be closed “as soon as practical,” belying hopes that a buyer for the Rocky will be found.

The Rocky, Colorado’s oldest newspaper, was put up for sale on Thursday after owner E.W. Scripps Co. said it lost about $11 million on the operation in the first nine months of the year….

…Boehne says the problem is not getting people to read the paper, it’s that the advertising dollars that aren’t there anymore… 

…The Rocky joins a crowded marketplace. Cox Enterprises Inc. is trying to sell its newspapers in Texas, North Carolina and Colorado. Landmark Communications Inc. said in January it wanted to sell nine daily newspapers but has found that buyers are having trouble getting loans amid the credit crisis…
 

I think the first instinct is to blame market conditions for the decline of newspapers in recent years. While I think current conditions speed up the downward pressure, they also highlight a trend that has been persistent the last decade. Readers aren’t reading the paper product as much as the digital one.

Follow the money.

The industry doesn’t survive without advertising. Advertisers need eyes to provide enough justification to place ads in any space. The eyes aren’t in paper nearly as much as they used to be. As a result, advertising money is showing up in different mediums.

Another reason to boost your business acumen.

The Monk

My absolute conviction is that if you are working reasonably well the only important thing is to keep shooting…it doesn’t matter whether you are making money or not. Keep working, because as you go through the process of working things begin to happen.

-Elliot Erwitt

_______________________________________

It’s really great to have had the number of people find this post and email me or leave comments. I’ve heard from pros and students alike…people well known in the industry and some (rather feisty) newcomers. We’ll keep the thread going although I’ll have to cut back on posting every response and post only those that contribute to the discussion. Knox…you got a pass on this one.

I’d also like to clarify some points that I may have presented in a poor way in the original rant. I may have come across as preaching from the soapbox or talking down to those of you in photojournalism.

My apologies.

Let me be clear. I love photography, in all of its forms. I can honestly say I can’t imagine doing anything else for the rest of my life.

I was trained as a photojournalist and I’m proud to say that. I’ve experienced things I could have never imagine which have shaped my life and personality. (Not many fields grant you the opportunity to hang out with a pimp in Thailand). In fact, I still shoot editorially and would say I’m a hybrid commercial/editorial shooter.

So, if you can stomach the financial stress and you’re willing to sacrifice things that many others wouldn’t to make an impact. Godspeed. But please, I urge you to take the time and really think hard about where you’re headed. I would caution against being romanticized by the ideology of working at a newspaper and take a serious and practical assessment of what skills you can offer the marketplace.

My intention is to (1) share what (if any) knowledge I have gained from my experience as a businessperson with photographers (2) provide an honest opinion of where I personally believe the industry is headed based on market trends and forecasts, (3) inform our photography system on all sides of the spectrum that I believe we are failing our emerging shooters by sending them out in droves into this market without a basic understanding of business fundamentals and self-promotion.

Game on.

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Reader M.D. -

I am a newspaper designer and copy editor… What I mainly wanted to say is, the Monk is right about pretty much everything he’s said about the future of journalism in general and the problems with journalism teaching. And even Knox is somewhat right about students being told not to expect jobs in journalism. I’ve seen it personally through friends struggling to find work or even getting laid off after only a short time in the work force. And unfortunately it is a wake-up call for many recent graduates, including myself. I had an inkling the industry was on the downturn when I graduated, but never did I imagine it getting to this point. Here’s another good site for tracking layoffs: http://graphicdesignr.net/papercuts/ More than 12,000 jobs so far this year…

So though I am currently a full-time employee at a daily newspaper with a 200,000+ circulation, I am still scared for my future and wish there were a lot of things school had taught me. I do believe that journalism as an idea will not die completely, and disagree with the Monk on some points, because everyone – including those in our age group – is still very much connected to getting news, just in a different way. And as we all know, newspaper have been disgustingly slow in catching up with that curve and thinking outside the box.

Some day I think I would like to work for myself is a commercial way, but I have no idea how I would go about doing that, so Monk’s advice is helpful. But I just hope that day isn’t forced on me too soon, as it very well could.

 

……….

It’s rough right now economically. Especially for newspapers. The advertising money that keeps newspapers afloat has gone to craigslist and other online services…and what’s left of it just got cut further in the economic downturn. The first thing that companies hold back in a rough economy is advertising. We’re hearing of more layoffs. My friends at the Los Angeles Times are waiting to see who will be staying and who will be cut for the second time this year. The newspaper will have roughly half of the staff it used to have…my feeling is that it will get worse.

That said, there were some good points brought up about too much complaining and not enough solution. No real beneficial information, just the same old doomsday scenario. In my next few posts I’ll have some things to say on how to construct a business plan, how to research your competitors and a regurgitation on effective marketing strategies from previous posts.

- Monk

_______________

“The dirty little secret of journalism is that it really isn’t a profession, it’s a craft. All you need is a telephone and a conscience and you’re all set.”
-Andrew Sullivan

“Journalism is a kind of profession, or craft, or racket, for people who never wanted to grow up and go out into the real world.”
-Harry Reasoner

“I have spent half my life trying to get away from journalism, but I am still mired in it — a low trade and a habit worse than heroin, a strange seedy world full of misfits and drunkards and failures.”
-H.S.T.

- Reader Knox Harrington

I’ll start with a full-disclosure: I have a journalism degree from one of the top schools in our field. I am a middling journalist and an even worse photographer. I have a great job (that I happen to hate) at an international publication. My J-School didn’t teach me any of what I needed to know to help me get the job I have now. In fact, I had to skip class to teach myself how to write code and program databases.

I always find it ironic that the one area where journalists are not expected to apply their skepticism and challenge the status quo is their own field. In the interests of being less hyperbolic and more helpful I suggest that current photography and journalism students do the following:

• Figure out how to do something nobody else in your class/office can do. For me that was a strange hybrid of computer science and film editing. I’m the only person at my publication who can do what I do. If I’m sick the job waits until tomorrow. That’s job security. If you are a staff writer, photog, designer or page editor and you get sick, the boss will just call somebody to fill in. That means you are replaceable.
• Pursue a hobby that only you find interesting. Yes, photography is great—we all love it, I have been a mediocre (pro) photographer for years—but, you aren’t so good at it that anyone will notice if the credit lines change tomorrow. We all love photography because it is fun. You are out in the sun, meeting new people, working without a boss over your shoulder, traveling to foreign lands, etc., etc. That’s why there are so many of us got into it. Find something to do that is less popular. Learn how to bind books, for instance.
• Don’t bow down to the altar of journalism. We all know you are doing god’s work. It is very noble. But, you aren’t opening anyone’s eyes with your expose on homelessness in America. Nobody cares about homeless people. That’s why they are homeless. Let me repeat that: NOBODY. CARES. You, along with lawyers and debt collectors, belong to one of the most hated professional groups in the world. Go do a story on something that makes people happy. Babies, puppies, pandas and that German polar bear cub are the most popular images on the web for a reason. Flocke the bear makes way more money than all of us combined. Before Flocke it was another bear cub that grew up and eventually attacked a zoo keeper—swear to god. They put that bear at the back of another zoo.
• Your job isn’t supposed to be fun. Jobs rarely are. Work sucks. Thats why you get that shitty paycheck. Become a more complete person: get married, have kids, learn a language, play an instrument. Don’t look to work to fulfill you; you’ll only be disappointed.
• Your job is to entertain people. Forget that BS they taught you in school. You are not at a newspaper to report the truth. A newspaper is a giant machine that is designed to sell keg-a-rators  and massage chairs to people who can’t afford them and will never need them. It is slowly being replaced by CraigstList because it can’t even do that efficiently.
• “In case you haven’t already figured it out: By enrolling in j-school, you (perhaps unwittingly) picked the establishment. Any guesses as to what’s on the other side? Bloggers, for one. The debate about whether bloggers are journalists ultimately boils down to a struggle about whether the former should be granted the privileges and pay packages of the latter. Bloggers are outsiders seeking status the only way outsiders know how: by prying it away from those who currently have it. The mainstream media (now abbreviated “MSM,” if it hasn’t come up in class already) rejoins with debates about ethics (a j-school favorite) and other red herrings, but don’t be fooled.”- don’t know where it’s from but god-dammit, it is true.
• Read this article from an editor of The New Republic:

 

………………

I don’t know how to respond, but it was an interesting read.

- Monk

Reader J.K. -

“This is a piece of shit. You are posting this knowing full and well that a large number of your readers are 2-3 even on their 4th year in school… and you are absolutely smashing their dreams. Sure- tell them it’s hard… tell them what they won’t hear in school…Complaining to your colleagues about how hard your field is won’t get you anywhere. You make it sound like you are failing- when we all know that you are one of the few who is managing to make it work. Did you view it as a failure when you said you were finished with journalism? Did any of us view YOU as a failure when you made that announcement? No. You made a career choice… one that you couldn’t have without your background in photojournalism… regardless of where you learned it. So instead of telling your valued readers that their degree is worth nothing- and that they are headed into a black hole…why not inform them on how to make it work?”

……….

Great discussion going here and well said. I like your energy. I do embrace my background in photojournalism. It gave me great training and I’m able to shoot a variety of situations commercially because of it and I still do shoot editorially because I enjoy it. On the other hand I feel the educational system that produces photographers could do a better job at educating them on the difficulties they will face in addition to developing a keen business sense. It feels as if students are pushed through without having a real sense of what they face. My goal with this blog is to inform photographers old and young of things I’ve learned along the way…what I wish I had learned before jumping in. There’s some good insight on previous posts on my marketing strategies and things I’ve found helpful thus far. Stay tuned.

- Monk

_________________

Reader R.R. -

“Hey. I was just reading your posts about newspapers. It’s why I was desperate to get out–I saw the train wreck that has been this year coming. When I took my staff gig I thought we’d be safe bc we were already down to a skeletal staff, but not so!”

_________________

Reader J.L. -

“I guess your recent blog activity is just trying to draw some attention and hits to your blog or business??  Because its certainly not a real examination or anything resembling such difficult questions… all coming from a somewhat recent Mizzou graduate, if I’m not mistaken (despite whatever business context your previous vocation involved)??

I’m all for rants and the like — but they should be rooted in the context and realities of this industry, and yours have not been.  Of course Mizzou, Ohio, WKU aren’t geared for the massive changes and depression of the photography industry… they are set up to get their students real jobs, and “freelance” isn’t a job.  What are they supposed to tell parents after their son/daughter has spent 4 years and 80k on their “education”?  Mr. Rees, what can you tell our kid now that they graduated?… “Good luck in Brooklyn?!”

Of course newspapers are DOA… Duh.  But photojournalism is independent of that, and its a lot more complicated to read its pulse.  You would think that nearly 20 years after it was called dead the last time, people would learn better.  And “our generation” whatever that means… does read the paper, they just don’t read it in printed form.

Lastly, trying to draw out comparisons between celebrity popular culture and other artistic endeavors is an empty gesture.  Get real… movies vs. Pulitzer.  Pop songs vs. NY Philharmonic.  Peanuts vs. poet laureates. What a joke.

Anyway — having a bag of bullet points doesn’t mean much if you don’t have anything new to say, or any solutions to offer — especially if you audience seems to largely be a bunch of kids in school during an extremely difficult time for photography.”

……….

Great response. There is certainly a distinction between photojournalism and newspapers jobs. My main focus in this post is on newspaper jobs, which naturally encompasses photojournalism. I think we can agree newspapers are done. Not for everyone, but many. Of course this is not new information to current practitioners but it is to some of those starting out.

I’ll go back to my fundamental argument. If we know the industry is suffering and the odds of making it are difficult, why not arm students with more than how to take photographs and tell stories? Why not teach them pertinent business skills in addition to capturing moments? Why not have the discussion (involving parents) with them that even though they might be the best, they still might not make it? This doesn’t happen enough, if at all.

Certainly there can be more resources directed towards enriching this part of the education. Freelance vs. having a job misses the point in my opinion. With over 50% (BLS) of photographers eventually working for themselves (a number higher than almost any other industry) it makes no sense why the economics are rarely discussed in the classroom. Thus, the extreme example of celebrities vs news photos. It’s extreme, of course as my preface noted, it does however illustrate where the economic value of images in our society lies…and it’s not in news in my opinion. Salaries and stock sales validate that.

What happens when they get laid off and that’s all they know? Wouldn’t it be good to have an understanding of business in photography? I can guarantee the solutions (no matter how scant they are) presented here on previous posts regarding marketing and business practices are more than students are given in their entire 4 years. And I think that’s a shame.

- Monk

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Reader S.G. -

Have you noted that the two most successful photographers to come out of Mizzou recently were undergrads who majored in something else, like business?

_______________

Reader K.H. -

Since we’re being honest, let’s be real honest: journalism is a bullshit career to begin with. It’s where you end up if you don’t actually want to learn anything in school. It’s what you do if you need a job that you can be half drunk all day and nobody will notice a dip in your productivity.

What’s more bullshit as a career than writing about what people did yesterday? Taking pictures of what people did yesterday. You don’t even need to know how to spell.

Is it any wonder that so many people go into journalism? You don’t need to take calculus in college, or physics, or quantitative analysis or any other class that teaches you a skill. When you get on the job—if you get a job—you follow a few simple rules like: don’t coach the subject (the Brits I work with think this is the funniest thing that Americans ever came up with), get their names and don’t clone in images of soldiers. Other than that, nobody really knows the difference between a good shot and a bad shot. The reader certainly can’t tell.

Somebody needs to tell the next generation of kids not to expect jobs if they choose journalism as a career. Preach on Monk; preach on.

-Knox Harrington

If you want to change the world start a hedge fund.

…………

Wow. Well, it’s your point of view, but I’ll post it for the sake of discussion.

- Monk

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Reader S.R.

…I did take calculus in college.  I even taught algebra. Glad your doing this “Monk”, it is good stuff.  Thanks for sharing your business insights with us.  Fully agree that it is shameful that they don’t teach a photography business course at MU.  Hope I can buy you all a drink sometime in the future.  I’ll be working double-shifts at Chilis though to finance my personal projects of course, but maybe we can fit it in somewhere.  Hope you all are well.

……….

Are you ready?

There’s no future as a newspaper photographer in the United States.

Let’s look at a few trends.

• Newspaper circulation has been declining for over 20 years.

• Your generation doesn’t read newspapers and neither will your kids.

• Newspaper photographer salaries had more worth in the 1960s than they do now.

• Newspaper journalists in general show a decline in job satisfaction.

• Want Weekly Updates of Layoffs?

Now, I know there are some of you who are unshakable. Photojournalism is the only thing you can imagine doing for the rest of your life. It’s in your blood. When you’re bored, you’re looking at stories to shoot and going to workshops and entering contests. There’s a very strong and understanding community for you out there. They understand why you’re in it and what you hope to accomplish. You feel that you are doing some good in the world. That your images will make a difference in someone’s life and that’s worth it for you. You might even be willing to give up family life and friends to make that difference.

I won’t argue that the training is practical and can be used in a variety of visual fields. But it has little economic value when you’re on your own trying to make it. Newspapers may be a stable income now, but the future looks very gloomy…and freelance does as well. There’s really no ‘thriving’ market for your pictures out there with the number of shooters on the scene these days. Not enough to make a stellar living at least. You know it’s a crazy industry when former Photographers of the Year, Magnum photographers, National Geographic Photographers and A-game shooters still have to shoot weddings to make it. The average person doesn’t want to look at people dying, kids in wheel chairs, the homeless, the latest disease that everybody wants to enter in the contests (autism).

Take for example the picture of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s kids that sold for millions. It has value to our society, whether it makes sense or not.

I’ll give you an extreme example. Supply and demand is what sets the price in our society. As you’ve read in previous posts, the market is saturated with photographers and pictures. There are billions of images floating around out there.

The barriers to entry have never been lower. Anyone can buy a camera, anyone can sell images. We can safely assume there will be even more images in the market in the future. Yes, pictures will be in more demand but supply is outstripping demand and will continue to do so. Because of this massive supply, the pressure on prices will  continue to drop and your services will be less in need at their current prices.

Compare this to the demand of Brad and Angelina’s twins. One pair of famous people. One set of famous kids. One photographer has the pictures. How much will the market pay for that? Apparently $14 million.

An extreme example, of course. But it illustrates the point. Much of the world we live in operates on market principles. If you understand your market, you understand the demand for your products.

If you’re already making it you know that to stay afloat, you have to supply your customers with what they WANT not what you THINK they should see or what you LIKE shooting.

So, I want to caution you for getting too involved in the “I want to change the world people have to have their stories told argument,” because I don’t want you to live at home with your parents.

Try a few of these tests out to see if people care as much about photojournalism as they used to:

1. Ask 10 people, who don’t know a thing about photography or journalism, to name one Pulitzer winner in the last 10 years.

2. Ask that same group if they can name a picture that won a Pulitzer in the last 10 years…20 years? What about one Oscar winner in the past 10 years? See my point?

3. Compare fictional movies about social issues to photo stories about social issues and, be honest, ask yourself which has more impact on generating a social dialogue.

(Remember that movie Blood Diamond? Photo stories have been done for years on that topic. Nobody cared. Then the movie came out and it’s all over CNN for a week and jewelry stores started putting up signs, “We Don’t Sell Conflict Diamonds.”

4. Compare the shelf life of a newspaper image (1 day) with an advertising picture (weeks and months) or an image in a book (forever). What has more value?

Make sense? Supply and Demand. Newspapers have dwindling demand. Images have increasing supply. Prices are going DOWN!

I’m not saying (photo)journalism is dead. I’m saying there’s no economic future in it for most people. It will always be around. It’s part of the fabric of this country.

What I am saying is don’t worry so much about complicated layering, impressing your peers and producing difficult images but focus rather on your business sense. Work on your lighting skills, portraiture, business acumen, marketing, video production. Understand what has demand in the marketplace and provide it.

If you still want to be a photojournalist, you should. If it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood. But really think hard about it. I think a viable option might be to move to a European country like Denmark or an Asian country like India. Their newspaper industry is still thriving…you’ll probably make a better living because of unionization and higher demand for print.

Your Friend,

The Monk

Update 10/24/2008: New Jersey Star-Ledger Cuts Staff in Half