It’s been a long time; almost eight years. But I just made the transition back to working at a newspaper.
I know. I’m a rat jumping back on a sinking ship. What am I thinking?
It’s a little different this time around. At least that’s what I tell myself.
For the past two months, I’ve been the multimedia chief at the Augusta Chronicle in Augusta, GA. It’s a coming home for me because I worked here four years from 1998-2002.
And a lot has changed since then.
Gone is the director of photography position. It’s now called the aforementioned multimedia chief. Mostly a chief photographer position in this new age of photojournalism. Instead of a eight staff photographers, we’re now down to a staff of four photographers plus me.
This is the new reality throughout the newsroom where about half the desks sit empty. Just like everybody else, we’re trying to do more with less.
We’re now a digital first publication. Photographers create videos and slideshows from their assignments and those get posted on the web before appearing in print. Circulation numbers seem to take a back seat nowadays to page views.
But some things never change.
One of the big ones for me is the thrill of creating compelling images. These keep me going. I enjoy being able to show our readers/audience a different look on the ordinary. Or the chance to show them something new altogether.
Right now, this is like a dream job for me. It’s been two months now and the honeymoon effect hasn’t faded. This is my happy place. I’m just hoping I don’t have to wake up from this dream.
