Reuters and APTN

[<luis>]

I saw a documentary a long time ago (don't remember when or where) about photojournalists covering conflicts, and they interviewed this man from Reuters, he told that he has been in 60 -sixty- countries in a year covering big news,....is that true?, do they travel so much?

I heard about a similar story from somebody who worked for APTN, not so many places but still traveling a lot....

 

[kevfog]

Sixty sounds a bit high, but it could be true. We (reuters) have bureaus in most of the world's major cities or hotspots, and have shooters who do nothing but travel the world (usually the third world) shooting the stuff that no other news organizations want to. Sadly, we have had several cameramen/jounalists killed or wounded in the last few years.

 

[Lensmith]

I'll jump back in here for a moment.

I didn't see the doc you talk about but I'll bet it was about a person who worked for the agency in the early days before broadcast television gear was more wide spread and easier to hire out freelance.

I would suggest if you want to work for APTN or Reuters (and can get around the hiring freeze) accept the fact, if you're a photog, you won't be traveling outside of the country very much.

These companies know freelance photogs in just about every country in Central and South America. We all know companies consider money first. They aren't going to fly a photog from the states to a foreign country and pay US rates. Why should they when they've got people with gear, experience AND they're willing to work for US100 a day?

That's right. US$100 a day. That's for a photog without gear and a US producer brought the camera and edit gear with them. The last big stories I've been on where APTN and Reuters had coverage were coordinated by a US based producer and worked by local, or "near local" crews.

An example. El Salvador had a good sized earthquake. Everyone went, including me working for a Japanese network. APTN flew in a producer and the photog came out of Nicaragua to work as a second camera with another El Salvador photog. The uplink field producer came out of Nicaragua. Both worked for the hundred dollar a day rate. Did I mention that rate is for a 24 hour day?

Reuters did the same thing. US producer and the camera crews were from El Salvador and Nicaragua. All of us were in the same hotel. All of us were feeding out of the same uplink.

I'll also add, all of these people do a pretty good job. They simply work for less money than someone living and working in the US.

It's economics. Those economics screw up things when it's balanced with a need for quality. I'm not talking "Hollywood" quality. I'm talking average "good" US television news quality. Pay a smaller rate and you aren't hiring guys with all the lights and mics you'd expect. The product that's sent back is judged by many in the US as inferior. Why would that surprise anyone? Who can afford to own HMIs or the best audio, lighting and camera gear when the client base won't pay enough to maintain, let alone purchase the higher end equipment?

I have to play the same game. There is no way I can survive trying to charge US crew rates for every single shoot I do. I still am considered the most expensive news and documentary photog in Nicaragua with the best broadcast camera gear...yet I have to face economic realities which force me to trim or shuffle my costs.

I make less money which means I'm not shooting and maintaining a DigiBeta or even a D-600. I've got a decent sound package as part of my gear but, to be honest, I end up throwing it in as a freebie to get some jobs. They don't want to pay for good sound or a qualified tech. I pay my sound tech out of my pocket to get the job done. By the way...my sound tech is the APTN photog here in Nicaragua. He works for me because he can't make a living shooting just for APTN.

Keep in mind the regular US networks have little interest in my part of the world on a regular basis. I don't live in Israel ;o)

Still, even though I'm the most expensive and have to balance costs, I can make an ok living in this third-world country since my overhead is lower and the equipment I've invested in helps me deliver a better product compared to so many shooting with industrial grade equipment.

This is all probably more than you really wanted to know but my point is...if companies like CNN, Reuters and APTN can hire photogs with basic gear, or even bring down a camera with a producer for a local photog to work, there's little if any chance these companies are all of a sudden going to turn around and decide "hey, let's pay more for airfare, hotel, meals and transportation!" when a local guy will do it for pennies on the dollar compared to a US photog wage? Sometimes I feel our business is similar to the athletic shoe industry. Think Nike!

I say this with respect. I like Tippster. A very cool guy who's going to be in Mexico soon to cover a major international story. Correct me if I'm wrong Tippster but...Tippster's being sent there but who is he working with? A great, experienced, talented photog without a doubt but...not an American photog making an American wage. That's not Tippsters fault. That's economic life at any broadcast company.

I've got lots of Reuters, CNN and APTN stories I could share about cost cutting and such. I know how the guys here and in other countries are struggling to deal with those cuts.

For those of you in the United States hoping to get hired as a photog at CNN, Reuters or APTN and then traveling the globe shooting news...well...I think the odds are strongly against it. Instead switch to field producing, satellite uplink technology and budget management. Doing that you'll increase your chances of living that travel dream and save a lot of wear and tear on your body.

Keeping those lower crew costs in mind (costs which are set by the companies, not the crews trying to make a living) you might have a better understanding why someone in a foreign country, working for a big name news service, might not be supplying the same quality product as you'd expect from a photog in the states with all the latest toys.

The foreign photogs I know, with few exceptions, can shoot very well. They've taught me a hell of a lot in fact! However, it's the old adage, you get what you pay for, that is the real reason many are dissatisfied with the quality of work they see on the sat feeds from foreign countries.

Now of course if you're talking about my work product...you'll see an exception to the "foreign quality" rule but it probably won't be work for one of the news services we're discussing ;o)

 

[<luis>]

thanks for share your comments,..however you two say different things.

We (reuters) have bureaus in most of the world's major cities or hotspots, and have shooters who do nothing but travel the world (usually the third world) shooting the stuff that no other news organizations want to

accept the fact, if you're a photog, you won't be traveling outside of the country very much.

These companies know freelance photogs in just about every country in Central and South America. We all know companies consider money first. They aren't going to fly a photog from the states to a foreign country and pay US rates. Why should they when they've got people with gear, experience AND they're willing to work for US100 a day?


the photojournalist I'm talking about said he was covering conflicts from Russia, Balkans, Sierra leona, Timor, Dessert storm...I saw it last year,so it's not so old.if I find the tape I'll let you know his name..

I know that is more cheaper in some cases to get freelance in third world countries, but it seems believable to me -the interview with the photog-

I also heard about a freelance photographer from Reuters who was working in Cali-Colombia in 2000, he was kidnapped by a guerrilla org. because he took a picture from a group of known politicians who were kidnapped too, and I heard that Reuters was paying him 10 thousand for the picture....it was one of many 'Reuters- exclusive'. so I don't know if it ($$) was true...

by the way, my natal chart says I'm gonna be "working from different places in third world countries,traveling,..,covering 'tragedies', humanitarian, diplomatic and civil rights issues",...so I was thinking that the only ones who do this (going from one country to other)are Reuters and APTN.
would be my dream job, but still looking the answer(job) to 'how to get it'.
do you know another answer that could gets me into it?

thanks.

 

[Lensmith]

I encourage you to make the effort and call the companies you are interested in.

Maybe they've got something for you.

I wasn't trying to be Mr. Negative and make you feel foolish. Reuters laid off their long time bureau photog here in Managua. As Central America goes, Nicaragua is probably still the most active news area...not that other worthwhile news doesn't happen in the region.

Reuters gave the photog a US$1,000 a month retainer. He's a great guy. Very talented. I call him the godfather of television news here and I mean that with all respect.

He's surviving. Went the PD-150 route and shoots mostly for Telemundo. Telemundo is paying US$350 for a fully edited story. Try paying a photog, reporter, editor plus maintain camera gear and computer on that in a dusty third world country. It's not easy ;o)

Reuters calls maybe once every couple of months for a story but that's it. We're all waiting for the next hurricane or earthquake to make some bucks.

I believe you about the photog in the doc. I'd love to know his name. Maybe you can get in touch with Tippster and he'll give you the specific names and numbers of people at his company that could help point you in a direction.

I wish you the best of luck and let us know how things work out!

Don't give up on your dream. We all have them and a lucky few actually get to live them ;o)

 

[<luis>]

thanks Lens...
I was looking for the photog I said, I found another one, his name is Mark Bello, he didn't say who is working for, but said he has been in 65 countries...it was an ABC special, "Run for Cover".
Found another one, Carlos Mavroleon from Journeyman Pictures in "Dying to tell the story", a CNN sunday presentation. he said that he's 'on call' (I mean, WAS,..he was killed)and traveling anywhere in the world where the catastrophes are.

I know also that the fees you're saying are true,however one hear stories here and there about salaries that sometimes sound too good to be tru, even stories from photog that travel a lot.

I heard stories about photogs from Reuters and APTN covering 'iraqui freedom' with dv cameras and a laptop, and the image is so good that makes me wonder, if the resolution is so good why not generalize a format...

I was only once covering the colombian conflict as a freelance for a national tv news,that's my only experience in a 'danger zone'.

and yes I'd like to get a foot in the door in Reuters or APTN or any network -where I can do what I'm supposed to do....and do it right-.
a little help would be great.

thanks again both of you for your time and comments.

 

[Tippster]

Whew, so many topics to touch on... bear with me.

Lensmith, thanks for the kind words. I wish you were coming to Cancun, 'mano. Here's my take on the Reuters/APTN thing...

KFOG works with me here in DC. What he wrote is perfectly correct, as is Lensmith (paradoxically) - it all depends what part of the world you're in. Central/South America has more available photogs for daily hire due to their much denser television presence - there are more broadcasters there per country (on average) than in Africa or parts of Asia. Luis, in your country alone there are at least three broadcast networks (RCN does their Washington news out of my office - and yes, Sandra is a hottie.) Thus there are more trained photogs available.

The shooters I've met that travel globally are threefold: Bang-Bang Freelancers, staff shooters tied to "The Hot-Shot Foreign Correspondents," and Diplomatic Travel Pool shooters. The rest stay, like Lensmith said, within their region. Just remember - some regions are much larger than others.

We've all met the first group. They're the guys that can bore you with all the conflicts they've been in, but many forgot how to shoot a nicely lit interview. These guys get their gigs by showing up for the war with their gear and then shopping their services around to their clients. Most often we'll use a core group of shooters' material since we have a working relationship with them already. That's why you might meet someone in Afghanistan who says he works for Reuters, since we're his main client. He may very well be selling his video to a German or Japanese network at the same time, it all depends if the video was sold for exclusive use or not. Generally these guys will tell you they work for the best known client they're currently selling to - maybe us, the BBC, CBS, whoever - without being an actual staffer. It's just easier.

The second group are, IMHO, much more interesting. I've met several guys from TV4 Sweden who were the shooters for a reporter named Rolf Something that was their version of Christiane Amanpour. If an event was important enough to warrant their own coverage, these guys were there. Some of the most professional people I've ever met. The burnout factor was extremely high, though. They literally spent 1/2 the year or more living out of their suitcase! Rolf is a great guy, but I met three of his cameramen over time - about one every two years. Nominally they were based in NYC to cover North America, but often they would cover a Cyclone in Micronesia then go to the Stanley Cup playoffs to interview Peter Forsberg then fly to Brazil and do a story on a mission in Rio's slums, por ejemplo. I wonder if Ms. Amanpour has a dedicated photog or if she uses freelancers. I think there are one or two staffers working with her out of London.

The final group - Diplomatic Travel Pool, are a different breed altogether. All they do is follow their Head-of-State/Foreign Minister around. Read the excellent article on this website from a freelancer that went along on Bush's Africa Trip. It's a freakin' grind. 4 Countries in 4 days! No thanks. Besides which, you usually have to be a VERY senior staffer to be part of a travel pool, since the OT is out of this world and we're greedy people.

The guys KFOG wrote about are mainly our African and Asian region shooters. The poster by name of WTN can tell you more of them than I can, but rest assured that we don't have any TV Stringers in Burkina Faso or Chad, so that continent's shooters get a whole bunch of travel.

My race is run. Gotta go shoot a stand-up and edit a 9/11 piece. Yay.

 

[<luis>]

Thanks tippster for your comments, I'd like to be in the second group you mentioned, the "hot spot foreign correspondents', that's my goal,what should I do?

also,
...Tippster, and he'll give you the specific names and numbers of people at his company that could help point you in a direction.

can you help me with that?

thanks.

 

[Tippster]

Well, if that's the group you want to be in, then we're not the company for you. We don't have many reporters, much less foreign correspondents. Those would be network specific (ie. Ms. Amanpour) so you'd have to work your way up in them. As far as contacts go, we're under a general hiring freeze in the US, but there is a job posting in Mexico City - no idea what it pays. E-mail Manuel Carrillo manuel.carrillo@reuters.com I think that's his address. He's the head photog/producer for Reuters Television in Mexico. I would, however, be surprised if they didn't have someone in mind for the job already since we have a ton of regular freelancers there and these jobs are few and far between. Usually these postings are just to comply with labor laws.

 

[<luis>]

thanks a lot tippster, however if you know when Reuters would hire again please let me know...
by the way, you know if ana fernanda valderrama is still working for reuters latinoamerica?
I'll contact this man in mexico, thanks for the e-mail, and if you know any contact even as those freelancers in group one that you mentioned who can give me a hand would be great too.

again, thanks a lot.

 

[Luis]

I remembered a photojournalist who was with a satelite phone,laptop computer and a bulletproof vest, freelancing in colombia, next week in brazil ,and next week he was in argentina, and next one he was in US, and next one in spain....how they do that?, I mean, do they earn enough money to do that?, how to be like them, where to start, is there like a 'company' of freelancers? or do they risk by themselves with money and all,....if you know some people who do that would be great to talk to them.

 

[Tippster]

Luis,

Yes, Anna is still with us. As a matter of fact she was promoted and is now the Latin American News Editor - which means she's in charge of Reuters Television, Latin America. Her desk is about 4 meters from mine across the room. This is Evelyn Sayan's old job - she moved to Singapore and is a producer for us there.