CTV News tells reporters they will have to do their own camera and editing work

CTV News tells reporters they will have to do their own camera and editing work

Staff at CTV News departments across the country were called into mandatory meetings on Thursday, and told that they’ll have to tighten their belts a bit more.
I don’t have specifics or numbers (I’ve asked CTV News for comment), but the headline is that journalists will be transformed into “videojournalists” who do not only their own reporting but also their own camerawork, editing and even writing for the web.

As a result, editors and cameramen will be offered buyout packages or laid off. Layoff notices have been issued in Montreal and Toronto, I’m told, but not everywhere. In Montreal, 15 jobs are being cut and an unspecified number of online jobs added.

CTV News already employs some videojournalists (there are four at CTV Montreal, all of them young), and they’re used at other networks as well, notably Citytv, which relies almost exclusively on them.

Reporters shooting their own stories is more feasible with today’s equipment (some newsrooms are experimenting with reporting using iPhones), and obviously saves on human resources. But more time spent on the technical elements of producing stories means less time on the journalism behind it.