shooting for local paper?

How hard is it to land a job taking pictures for the local newspaper? I emailed the director of the journal some of my best work and I will call Monday to see if I can speak with him.

Just depends where you are and how big the newspaper is. If you have had any previous experience it may be helpful to mention it as well though some smaller papers seem to be willing to give people a "chance" and their pay is usually reflective of this.

It's not hard to get your work in papers for free if they are taking it for free.
From people who have worked in papers and what we've talked about it that
it's hard to get the job because they usually only hire one photographer that
has to work hard for not the best pay.

Nickc84 wrote in post #11738410
How hard is it to land a job taking pictures for the local newspaper? I emailed the director of the journal some of my best work and I will call Monday to see if I can speak with him.

Go to the NPPA website and read the discussion board and you will discover your answer though it may not be the answer you want.

http://www.nppa.org …scussions/forum​/index.php

Note non-members can read but not post, however if you have a question that needs to be answered let me know and I will post it for you.

Wayne

I worked for a newspaper as a full time employee for 17 years.. The pay and benefits are brilliant.. Also, gear was supplied along with the use of a car from the car pool..

It was a medium sized daily under the masthead of a much larger newspaper.. Before working for them I'd already had 12 years as a full time pro, the last four, self employed.. I'd run into the newspaper photographers on various assignments we were shooting and occasionally mix with them socially..

Whilst self employed, I would do a bit of casual work for the newspaper and I was also offered full time work on two occasions.. I was enjoying being self employed too much to work as an employee..

A few photographers resigned in that time and the newspaper dangled the carrot to recruit me. I took the job..

In Australia, landing a job as a full time staffer is difficult for a number of reasons.. One, it's a great job and there is little turn over in staff.. Most photographers are there for life.. Another is, photographers are often recruited from known pros in the area.. It's like who you know..

To add, many newspapers have an internship system, where photographers and journalists come in for a month of so and work for free.. If these guys have any talent, they are "put on the books" for future prospective employment.. The list is often long..

Around here not too easy, the local rag will take it free but don't expect a pay check. They had a stringer program and after one guy abused it too much it's now assignment only and they pay crap. The bigger papers laugh when you ask, one is cheapest around and the other likes exclusive (i.e. not wire) but the people up above just won't approve of it. If you haven't noticed the newspaper industry isn't exactly "thriving", most are doing all they can to survive let alone add expenses. Of course it differs by area, by paper size, by the owners, etc. The local rag pay is far from brilliant and no car pool with limited gear, photographer is always trying to get them to upgrade.