Reuters is cutting its freelance sports photographers, who had been covering the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and NCAA throughout North America.
According to multiple reports, photographers began receiving calls late last week from Reuters sports photo editor Peter Jones, telling them that their services would no longer be needed starting September 15. While the photographers had been notified, several reports said Reuters’ sports clients had not, and were only hearing of the news through the grapevine.
The cuts come after Thomson Reuters reached a deal with USA Today Sports Images, which will soon provide them with a live feed of daily sports photos. USATSI was founded by former Sports Illustrated photographer Bob Rosato, and the company recently rebranded itself to provide images to all Gannett Properties. Gannett owns 82 newspapers and 23 television stations. They pay Reuters for news content, and Reuters will soon be paying them for USATSI’s live feed.
Reuters will still require sports photographers outside of North America, and staff sports photographers will be assigned to other beats. The cuts still eliminate a large handful of dream gigs, though, and that’s upsetting – We certainly wish those photographers the best of luck in moving forward with their careers.
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Freelancers, what do you think? Does this pose a troublesome trend, or is it just the typical rough side of freelance life? Tell us in the comments below.
