Trinity Mirror has decided that six of the 10 staff photographers who take pictures for the Daily Mirror and the Sunday Mirror must go.
Three photographers have volunteered for redundancy. The other three are locked into negotiations or, to use the company's jargon, "have been notified of the risk of [mandatory] redundancy." It is unlikely that they can be redeployed in another capacity.
It will mean that in future the two Mirror titles will have two staff photographers each. Trinity's other national title, The People, has been operating without a staff photographer for two years.
The decision to reduce the photographic staff, announced yesterday, is part of the overall redundancy programme, announced in June, that is expected to result in 200 editorial job losses (140 full-time plus 60 casuals).
To put this specific cut in context, it is clear that Trinity - as with other newspaper publishers - believe that they can be served as well by calling on the services of freelance photographers.
Obviously, it is also much cheaper to hire photographers on a daily basis. So I can understand the reasoning well enough.
There are, however, some risks down the line. Picture desks can still draw on a pool of experienced snappers who work as freelances. What happens when they retire?
I know there are people who believe that taking pictures is easy (and I agree that technology has made it far easier than once was the case). But there is more to taking a picture than pressing a button.
I sincerely hope we are not going to lose the skills that have made British newspaper photographers among the best in the world.
