Photo Shoot: All the time in the world
Deadlines are the lifeblood of the newspaper world. When film was king and pixels just a premonition, the daily routine was straight forward, arrive in the morning; spend the day chasing assignments. Travel back to the Hyannis office, process your black and white rolls, make prints, type out a caption, attach and hand off to an editor.
Most stories and photos were filed ahead of the afternoon budget meeting of editors, where story placement and photo selection was determined at 4 p.m. Evening events had a quicker turn time and most content was “put to bed” by around 10 p.m. Late breaking news or sports could sometimes push up close to the midnight press run. Snow storms, hurricanes, acts of God, or the Red Sox winning their first World Series after 86 years in 2004, could always delay a press start.
Pixels have replaced the darkroom. Photographs and videos are sent almost instantly, when needed, right from the camera or more increasingly, cellphone, pass through a digital editor on to the website. The concept of a deadline for breaking news is all but extinct. But wait there is more. Photographers now service two products, the good old- fashioned, hold-in-your-hands newspaper and the website. Print deadlines are still determined by press starts. As the printing industry continues to consolidate, the Cape Cod Times is printed at the Providence Journal; deadlines still dictate the photojournalist’s daily schedule. So for next day publication, all photos must be shipped by early afternoon to a design center. Afternoon and evening events go up online the same day.
So late morning now reads like the bumper sticker, “Deadlines are closer than they appear.” The ticking clock can be maddening when slow traffic or a late arriving subject pushes up to deadline time. The text messages from editors start arriving, “Need that photo soon,” which evolves into “Where is the photo?” Finally, the ultimatum, “Need it in five minutes or it can’t run.” But technology usually works, the magic photo pixels whisk off into the Gannett design center and it is time for a deep breath.
After the hustle and bustle, a thumbs up emoji or a “got it” text will be sent in acknowledgement. But I’ve always dreamed of hearing, “No rush, you have all the time in the world.”
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Surviving the daily grind of newspaper deadlines
