Need another reason to specialize and go after a highly targeted market rather than being a generalist who will shoot anything for anyone for any money? How about this–Yahoo and Reuters are teaming up to provide “user-generated” images for the news. Forget about making any money shooting low- to mid-level photo-journalism in the future–everyone and their brother who has a photo cell phone are the new stringers.
This is happening in other creative industries as well. Look at the Superbowl ad contest, for example. Millions of dollars get spent every year on Superbowl ads, but now any schmo has the chance to get his/her idea made and placed into the most prized media buy of the year. Ouch.
I think the high-end professionals will always have work. But for those of you who are going after “whatever I can get” kinds of work, now is the time to re-examine that plan.
Didn’t you become a creative pro to be something more than a techie? As the army used to say, “Be all that you can be!” It’s your best shot at making it financially to boot.
It’s again about education ! About explaining the value of intellectual property.
Content is King. Especially quality content ! Websites, newspapers and magazines, TV channels and broadcasters, theater…, need content, to simply exist. Without content, no viewers or readers. Higher quality means, higher profits !
Soon the people sending content to Yahoo and Reuters and others, will realise that the guys behind this companies make huge profits out of it. They will also realise that they invested to produce content and that the small bucks they perhaps get, do not help them to upgrade their gear (check cost of doing business) Than there will appear new “content buyers” who will pay more for better quality. The prices will go up and better quality will be asked for. More and more will loose too much money in this game. They will decide that the game will be over for them ! Professionals will be back.
Educate people around you about intelectual property and their rights ! Content providers will also begin to educate people, to avoid going bankrupt due to piracy. It will need time, but soon we will be back to quality and automatically jobs !
Need an example ? Check what is happening with manufacturing jobs and China. More and more manufacturing jobs are done in China. As there is demand, the chinese workers are asking for more money and more rights. Soon labor unions will appear. As they get more money, they will get more education. The prices are already going up and will continue to go up.
Soon, the American and European companies will find it no more cheap to produce in China and transfer back the jobs to the US and Europe. In other terms education is bringing back work !
The best way out of this situation is to educate people. Begin right now !
Cheers.