CNN lay offs, Fukushima and other stories

Some interesting links found on twitter. In a shocking development hardly expected from a large news group, CNN has laid off photojournalists citing easy availability of small cameras with HD quality recordings and rise in citizen journalism. CNN runs a citizen journalism initiative called iReport. They have their logic, but it is bad news for photojournalists, whose trained eyes seem to be taken for granted. I mean I have a 16 megapixel aim and shoot with HD quality video recording, but I can't capture a photograph the way a photojournalist can. I can only do fluke, blind recording if I happen to be at the right time at the right place. That too has its value if I am shooting a tsunami coming in, but how can it ever replace the skills of my photojournalist friends. There were hundreds of people and journalists below those towers on 9/11, but the pictures that a James Nachtwey or Steve McCurry or  Thomas Hoepker shot stand out because they capture something that is beyond amateur eye. Read on


After 32 years in print, a newsroom veteran jumps to a digital-only job -- From Connecticut Newsroom

The latest IAEA status report on Fukushima Daiichi plant -- From IAEA.org

CNN lays off photojournalists citing increased camera availability   -- From Petapixel.com

"People are tired of simple things. They want to be challenged," novelist Umberto Eco tells Stephen Moss of The Guardian in an interview.

                                          Umberto Eco
                                          Photo courtesy: templars.wordpress.com

NYPD detective's photographic record

Photo copyright: Greg Semendinger/NYPD/ABC/AP



Every visit to the Time magazine's photo section always reveals something interesting to see.



Months before he retired, photography enthusiast and New York Police Department detective Greg Semendinger shot dramatic images of 9/11 while the two towers were going down from a helicopter. He was airborne minutes after the towers were hit and shot this great photographic record. Check this Time Magazine gallery to see 9/11 from the sky.



He shot 240 images which were part of a photographic project undertaken by the US-government run National Institute of Standards and Technology, which probed the physical destruction of the World Trade Centre towers. The NIST had collected over 2700 pictures from amateurs and professionals as part of its project. They remained out of the public domain till ABC News got to know about the photographic project, and used the Freedom of Information Act to get them released in Feb 2010.



Also check Semendinger interview recalling the moments when he shot these pictures.



While Semendinger was shooting from the sky, two photo journalists James Nachtwey and Steve McCurry were shooting the collapse of the towers from the ground. You could see Nachtwey's images on his website. He actually went inside the towers before they collapsed. They were first published by Time magazine.




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