Deadlines are the lifeblood of the newspaper world. When film was king and pixels were just a premonition, routine was straightforward, the morning arrival; spend the day chasing after tasks. Return to the Hyannis office, develop your black and white rolls, make prints, print a title, attach and hand to the editor.
Most of the stories and photos were submitted before the editors’ afternoon budget meeting, where story placement and photo selection were decided at 4 p.m.; sports can sometimes feel like a midnight press run. Snowstorms, hurricanes, acts of God or the Red Sox winning their first World Series in 86 years in 2004 can always delay presser kickoff.
Pixels have replaced the dark room. Photos and videos are sent almost instantly when needed, directly from the camera or increasingly from the mobile phone, transferred to the website with a digital editor. The concept of a breaking news deadline is all but gone. But wait, there’s more! Photographers now serve two products: the old-fashioned, hand-held newspaper and the website. Print deadlines are still determined by press launches. As the printing industry continues to consolidate, the Cape Cod Times is printed in the Providence Journal; Deadlines still dictate the photojournalist’s daily schedule. So all photos must be sent to the design center by early afternoon for the next day’s publication. Afternoon and evening events go online on the same day.
So the late morning now reads like a bumper sticker, “Deadlines are closer than they seem.” The clock can get crazy when slow traffic or a late-arriving item hits a deadline. Text messages from editors start with “Need that photo soon” that turns into “Where’s the photo?” Finally, the ultimatum, “It has to be in five minutes or it can’t go through.” But the technology usually works, magical photo pixels pour into the Gannett design center, and it’s time to take a deep breath.
After a mess, a thumbs up emoji or “got it” text will be sent as confirmation. But I always dreamed of hearing. “Don’t rush, you have all the time in the world.”
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